Laal Maas beans

Laal Mass beans is a fiery dish, traditionally made with lamb or mutton and translates to red meat, 'laal' is red, for the red fiery sauce made with dried red chillies and 'mass' for meat.

I wanted to create a sauce using all the traditional spices and ingredients to which I could simply add some beans, in this case some meaty butterbeans and some green beans which are perfectly happy being braised until soft.

This recipe happily serves 3-4 people alongside some rice or bread.

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

1 tbsp Ghee

1 Large white onion diced

2 tbsp Tomato puree

Whole spices

2 Bay leaves

1 Stick of cassia bark or cinnamon

4 Green cardamom pods

2 Black cardamom pods

Ground spices

2 tsp Ground cumin

2 tsp Ground coriander

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp Garam masala

Sauce ingredients

15 Dried Kashmiri chillies, stalk ends discarded, soaked in 150ml hot water

250 g Whole milk yoghurt

3 Garlic cloves crushed, or 1 frozen cube

2 Inch piece of Ginger grated, or 1 frozen cube

Main ingredients

700 g Jar butter beans (Bold Bean) or 2 Regular Tins

200 g Green beans, tailed and chopped into 2 inch pieces

15 g Chopped coriander

12 Chopped red chillies, to serve

Heat the oil and ghee in a large frying pan on a medium heat.

Add the whole spices and stir for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

Add the onions along with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, cook until caramelized, turning the heat down if required, this may take 20-30 mins.

Meanwhile make the sauce, using a stick blender or bullet, blitz the dried chillies and soaking water, yoghurt, ginger and garlic and set aside.

Add the ground spices and stir through to cook a little for a couple of mins.

Add the tomato puree, stir through for a couple of minutes.

Add the sauce and bring to a simmer, then add the beans and stir through, pop a lid on and simmer for 10 minutes or so until the sauce has darkened and thickened.

Add the beans and their liquid if using quality beans such as Bold Beans. Replace the lid and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Stir through most of the coriander and use the rest along with the chopped chillies when serving.

Print Options:

Laal Maas beans