Beans Coconut Recipes

Prepare coconut milk

Method

Break open a fresh coconut and remove the shell. Coarsely grate off the white flesh and cover this with 1 cup of boiling water. Leave to stand for 15 minutes. Strain off the coconut thoroughly and you are left with the first extract of milk which is called FEM in the recipes which follow. Repeat the process for the second extract of milk, SEM. SEM is always used first in cooking; then when the dish is nearly dry, then the thick and creamy FEM

Paste of Beans and Peas

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried beans
• 1 cup dried peas
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon fat ( preferable ghee)
• 1 onion
• salt

Soak beans and peas overnight.

Cook the beans and peas until soft. Peel and dice the potatoes, add to the beans and peas and continue cooking till soft. Drain off water. Brown the onion in the fat and add to the beans and peas and potatoes.Season well and mash to a smooth paste.

Bean in coconut milk

Ingredients

• Beans in coconut milk
• ¼ kg beans (mbaazi)
• 1 cup FEM and 2 cups SEM from 2 coconuts
• 2 sliced onions
• 2 sliced tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• salt to taste

Clean and wash beans well. Soak for 6 hours. Boil in plenty of water till beans are soft and water is dried up. Add the SEM and all the remaining ingredients, except FEM. Cook on medium heat till almost dry. Add FEM. Cook on low heat for 3 - 5 minutes.

Serve hot with mahamri or bread.

How to Prepare Mahamri

Ingredients

• ½ kg plain white flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 dessertspoon ghee
• 1 teaspoon yeast diluted in a little warm water
• 1¼ cups milk
• Oil for deep frying
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds (optional)

Thoroughly knead flour, sugar, cardamom, ghee, milk and yeast solution to form a dough. Knead until the dough is smooth and blistered. Divide into 8 balls. Roll each ball into a 6" circle. Cut into quarters. Put well apart on a floured board or paper and keep in a warm room for about 2 hours or until the dough is risen and becomes light.

Deep fry both sides in oil till brown. They should be light, golden brown, not too brown.

Serve hot with curry.

N.B. - This is the staple bread of Swahili people, and some housewives make it every morning for breakfast. It can be eaten cold or re-heated for dinner. It can be eaten with butter or without any accompaniment.

Bean Stew (Mchuzi wa Kunde)

Ingredients

• 1½ cups kidney beans
• 3 cups water
• 1 red onion
• 1 white onion
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• ¼ teaspoon yellow spice ( tumeric powder)

Wash the beans and soak in water overnight. Remove the skin and boil beans until soft. Chop onion and fry it in oil. Add to the boiled beans. Add salt and spice.

Serve with Ugali, matoke or rice.

Beans in coconut

Ingredients

• 2 cups cow beans
• 2 cups grated coconut
• salt to taste

Clean and wash beans well. Boil in plenty of water till tender, but not mashy. Add salt. Cook till all the stock is dry. Leave to cool. Add grated coconut. Mix together well

Serve warm.

Beans Gravy

Ingredients

• ¼ kg green grams (pojo choroko)
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• 1 cup FEM and 3 cups SEM from 2 coconuts
• 2 crushed onions
• 4 crushed cloves of garlic juice of 2 lemons

Clean and wash beans well.Boil till very tender and all stock is dry. Mash beans till very soft and smooth. Add all ingredients except FEM. Cook in a pot on low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, till gravy is quite thick and smooth. Add the rest of the coconut milk and cook stirring for 3 minutes.

Serve hot with rice, chapati or ugali.

How to Prepare Ugali

Ingredients

• ¾ cup water
• ½ cup maizemeal
• ½ dessertspoon dried skim milk powder
• salt

Boil water.Sieve maizemeal, dried skim milk powder and slt.Add sieved flour to boiling water.Cook for a few minutes stirring continuously.

Serve with stewed meat.

Bean Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried beans
• 2 pints water
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 2 medium-sized onions
• 3 tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• ½ cup milk

Soak overnight in water and soda to remove skin from the beans. Place them in a saucepan and simmer until soft. While simmering the beans, peel and slice the onions, skin and cut the tomatoes and fry onions. Add the onions and tomatoes to the oft beans and stir them together, adding salt, pepper and lastly milk.

Serve sauce with sweet potatoes.

Pigeon Pea Sauce (Esifuluko - luhya dish)

Ingredients

• 1 cup pigeon peans
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons ghee or butter
• 2 onions
• Seasoning
• 1 cup milk

Cook the peas in the water till soft. Fry the onions in the ghee till golden brown and add to the peas. Cook till all the water is dry. Mash the peas into a paste. Season well and add the milk.Reheat and serve with mashed potatoes or bananas.

Lentil Sauce

Ingredients

• ½ kg lentils
• Water for boiling
• 1 chopped onion
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• Salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 cup FEM and 3 SEM from 2 coconuts

Boil lentils in plenty of water till tender. Drain and mash to a paste.

Mix all ingredients together, except FEM. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add FEM and cook on low het for about 10 minutes stirring.

Serve as sauce to rice dish.

Curried Sorghum Bean Mash (Improved 'Muthura')

Ingredients

• 2 cups sorghum (pre-soaked)
• 2 cups beans (pre-soaked)
• 4 medium size sweet potatoes/irish potatoes or arrowroots
• 1 tbsp cooking fat
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• Tomato paste, salt

Boil the sorghum and beans until done.Peel and wash the potatoes.Chop into small pieces and boil.

Add the sorghum and beans and cook until ready.Mash the mixture.Chop the onion and garlic.

Heat the cooking fat and fry the onion and garlic until soft.Add curry powder and tomato paste and mix well.

Add mash into the pan and mix well.Leave to simmer for short time turning to avoid burning.

Garnish with a slice of tomato.

Serve with tomato relish.

Cassava and Beans

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized cassava
• 1 cup beans (dry or fresh)
• 1 cup grated coconut/milk
• salt and pepper
• 1 small onion chopped

Soak the beans overnight, if dried beans are used.Boil the beans with chopped onion in plenty of water until soft.Peel the casava, remove the woody pith in the middle part and cut into thin slices.

Put the cassava to boil and season.Prepare 1 cup of coonut milk (can be subtituted with diluted milk).

When the beans are nearly cooked add the coconut milk.Add the cassava to the beans and continue cooking for another 20 - 30 minutes.If there is still too much liquid, cook with the lid off.

When ready , it should be thick and wet, but not watery.

Serve hot