Saturday 3 March 2012

KIDNEY BEANS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE

I love to create drama in my life.
It puts a smile , a twinkle in the eyes of people I love and care about...my family and friends.
A little prank here and a little twist there.
What better way to do that than with colour.
This dish is just that....a prank and a twist.
The result was amazing.
One morning my 17 year old son came and told me that he wanted to invite his school friends for lunch.
And told me sternly that he expected good food as his friends expect me to cook well, and as an after-thought added, with a sheepish smile, that I should have cottage cheese (his favourite)  in my menu.
Well, I decided to give him what he desired but with a twist.

tomato rice with kidney beans with cottage cheese

Usually, I make kidney beans in a red coloured gravy but I decided to give it a little twist and serve it in a white gravy where I use nuts.
And then he threw the bomb-shell. One of his friends was allergic to nuts.
I also had another problem with my menu...there were now two dishes rich in protein.
So here is what I did. It turned out perfect.


Kidney Beans with Cottage Cheese

KIDNEY BEANS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE:
serves 8

Ingredients:
.Kidney Beans...............................2 cups, soak overnight
.Water...........................................4 cups
.Salt...............................................to taste
.Cottage cheese.............................1 cup, cut into 1 inch pieces

for the gravy:
.Red onions....................................3, medium-sized
.Garlic............................................2 cloves
.Ginger...........................................1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
.Green chili.....................................1 tsp, finely chopped
.Water............................................1/2 cup
.Black pepper powder....................1/2 tsp

.Yogurt...........................................3/4th cup
.Ricotta Cheese...............................1/4th cup
.Coriander powder..........................2 tsp.
.Garam masala powder....................1/4th tsp.
.Nutmeg..........................................1/2 smidgen
.Cinnamon sticks..............................2
.Bay leaf...........................................2
.Vegetable Oil..................................1 tsp.
.Butter..............................................1 tsp.
.Salt..................................................to taste

Method:
.Soak the Kidney beans overnight.

.Wash and cook with 4 cups of water, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf and salt to taste in a pressure cooker for 
  half an hour or until well cooked.
.Remove the cooking liquid* in a bowl and rinse the kidney beans. Set aside.

 for the gravy:
.Slice the onions and cut chili, garlic, ginger as required by the recipe.
.In a pan combine the onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies an boil till the onions are softened. Cool to
 room temperature.
.In a blender add the onion mixture, yogurt, ricotta cheese, coriander powder, garam masala, nutmeg and
 black pepper powder and blend to a smooth paste.

How to proceed:
.Heat oil  and butter in a pan.
.Add 1 cinnamon stick and 1 bay leaf.
.When fragrant add the onion paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until the oil floats to the surface.
.Add a little water to get a sauce consistency. Simmer for 3 minutes.
.Add the rinsed and drained kidney beans.cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
.Add the cottage cheese and further cook for 5 minutes.
.Serve hot with Tomato flavoured rice.

Note:
*.Do not discard the cooking liquid. You can use it to cook the rice.











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