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Qorma-e-lubia
Red kidney bean stew
قورمه لوبیا (qorma-e-lubia): Afghan red kidney bean stew in onion, tomato and coriander sauce
Qorma-e-lubia is everyday Afghan home cooking, made in Kabul and Herat kitchens for weekday lunches and sold from big pots at roadside eating houses with fresh naan. Red kidney beans simmer slowly in a sauce built on deeply browned onion, tomato, garlic and ground coriander until it turns rich and brick-red. Eat it with naan, or with plain challow rice and a salad of tomato and onion. The usual mistake is putting dried kidney beans straight into a slow cooker: they must be boiled hard for 10 minutes first, or they can make you ill. Slow-cooker option: after browning and the hard boil, cook on low for 8 hours. Chef's tip: brown the onions until properly dark, about 15 minutes; that colour is where the stew's depth comes from.
- Total time
- 110 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 9 oz dried red kidney beanssoaked overnight in plenty of cold water
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 1 tbsp fresh gingergrated
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 3 tomatoesgrated or finely chopped
- 5 cups water
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ oz fresh corianderchopped
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Drain and rinse the soaked 9 oz dried red kidney beans. Put them in the pot with the 5 cups water, bring to a rolling boil and boil hard for 10 minutes. This kills a natural toxin in kidney beans; don't skip it. Tip the beans and their water into a bowl.
15 minStep 2: Wipe out the pot, add 4 tbsp sunflower oil and fry 2 onions over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until deep golden brown.
15 minStep 3: Add 4 cloves garlic and 1 tbsp fresh ginger and stir for 1 minute. Stir in 2 tsp ground coriander, ½ tsp ground turmeric, ½ tsp chilli powder and 2 tbsp tomato purée and cook for 1 minute until the purée darkens.
2 minStep 4: Add 3 tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until they break down and the oil shines on top.
5 minStep 5: Return the beans and their cooking water. Add 1 ¼ tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper, cover with the lid ajar and simmer gently for 60–70 minutes until the beans are creamy right through and the sauce has thickened. (Slow cooker: tip everything in after this step and cook on low for 8 hours.)
70 minStep 6: Crush a ladle of beans against the side of the pot to thicken the sauce. Taste for salt, scatter with ½ oz fresh coriander and serve with naan or rice.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 44 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 15 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does qorma-e-lubia take?
- About 110 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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