Arun Kapil's Bombay Butter Beans: Today
Arun Kapil's Bombay Butter Beans: Today
This is a wonderful savoury hit: soft beans, crisp-edged potatoes, butter, spice, lime, herbs. It's comforting, bit of a show-off and dead easy to make. It's a brilliant dish for a mid-week meal.
Ingredients
Serves: 2–3
500g baby potatoes, boiled until tender and cooled
1 x 400g tin butter beans
25g butter
75ml light olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for crisping the potatoes
8–10 curry leaves
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
Spices: 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, ½ tsp garam masala, ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt, or to taste
4 tbsp double cream
Juice of ½ lime
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
To finish
Extra coriander leaf
Lime wedges
Optional: 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
Optional: a little sliced red chilli
Method
Lightly crush the cooked potatoes with the bottom of a jar or mug so they split and flatten slightly.
Heat 75ml tbsp oil in a roasting tray in the oven set to 200C, Gas Mark 7. When hot, add the potatoes, spoon over the hot oil to coat and then let them cook to crisp for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until golden and craggy at the edges. Set aside.
Into a heavy bottomed fry pan, add the butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. When the butter foams, add the curry leaves, garlic and ginger. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the chopped tomato and tomato purée, followed by the cumin, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala, black pepper and salt. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until thick, glossy and rust-red.
Add the butter beans and their water. Toss gently and simmer for 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat, stir in the cream and lime juice, then fold through the coriander. Spoon over the crispy potatoes or tumble the potatoes back through the beans for a more tossed, abundant look.
Finish with extra coriander, a squeeze of lime and a little yoghurt or sliced chilli, as you like.
For the beans, use a shallow rustic bowl or platter. You want the potatoes visible, with the beans spooned over and around them. Enjoy!
