Creamy Curried Adzuki Beans
The beauty of the seasons is that they come back, in all their glory. Fall is back, along with it are stews soups and comforting legumes. I had made these Adzuki beans, last year and revisited them again today, well it is Meatless Monday after all. I had last made this as a part of a vegan meal, on our grape picking day a staple in our homes once a year.
My Creamy Curried Adzuki Bean Story
Creamy and comforting, adzuki beans actually are easier to digest thant a lot of beans, they cook faster and therefore are a great addition to your legume arsenal. These beans are called chauli or chote rajma or mini rajma or kidney beans in Hindi. To ensure that they live up to their name, you can actually prepare them just like the rajma recipe here, however, my recipe here is kind of a hybrid cross between a regular complex dal and the rajma, I feel that these delicate beans have enough to offer without needs too much complexity.
I am on a make pumpkin spicy again, bandwagon. It really is about treating pumpkin like a fruit rather than a vegetable. But, for today folks, we are sticking to to the beans on hand. By the way, if you have a little left over, you can use this as a filling for burritos.
More Adzuki Bean Possibilities
A quick-fix technique that I do use in this recipe is that I use curry powder, but I make my own, here is a video of my recipe from the Spices and Seasons cookbook.
A recipe for adzuki beans in the instant pot can be found here. And using the beans in quesadillas can be found here.
An easy comforting recipe for curried adzuki beans, perfect for the cool and nippy temperatures.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of oil
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- ¾ cup of dried adzuki beans, soaked for 4 to 6 hours
- 11/2 teaspoon curry powder (use your favorite brand)
- 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- Chopped cilantro
- Sliced or slivered onions
Instructions
- Heat the oil and add in the whole cumin seeds and wait until the seeds begin to sizzle. Stir in the onion and cook the onions for about 4 minutes until they soften. (Note: If you plan on doing this in the pressure cooker, you can begin doing this right away in the pressure cooker).
- Add in the grated ginger and stir for about a minute, add in the tomatoes and cook until they soften.
- Stir in the adzuki beans with 3 cups of water, the curry powder and the jalapeno or serrano chili and salt. If using a pressure cooker, cook the beans for about 20 minutes or bring the beans to a simmer and cook them low and slow until the beans are very tender and the mixture is thicker.
- Stir in the coconut milk and cook until heat through.
- Sprinkle with the garam masala and stir in.
- Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and the sliced and slivered almonds.
Notes
Most of the prep time is for soaking the beans.
Pamela
This looks so delicious and I would really like to try it. Adzuki beans would be great in a savory dish. Here in Japan, Adzuki beans are made into sweet dishes for dessert, believe it or not! It can be served warm in the winter or room temperature. It is very popular here in Japan. Also a kind of paste is made from the beans by adding less water and that is also used in dumplings for a sweet dessert.
Look on the web for:
OSHIRUKO or
SWEET RED BEAN SOUP or
ZENSAI
Often pounded rice dumplings are also added.
rinkub@aol.com
I have actually tried those red bean paste balls, but personally am only OK with them, they are good not great to my palate.
Joy
Quick question – what kind of curry paste are you using? I’m interested in trying out this recipe, but you say “see page XXX for the recipe” for the curry powder.
Thanks!
rinkub@aol.com
Hi Joy,
Thanks for stopping by, I actually make my own curry powder. I have linked to the youtube video I have for curry powder earlier, but you can use a generic variety.