I found the basis of this recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery. She does it all from scratch with whole spices, while I’ve adapted it for dried spices and tinned tomatoes. I’m sure her version tastes better, but my version is more likely to actually get done (in my home, anyway!). This is 1/3 of the quantity, too – about right for one 220g pack of dwarf beans to become 300g of cooked result – enough for 2-4 portions as a side. (I find it useful to have things pre-measured before I start, because they come together quite quickly.)
220g (1 pack) fresh dwarf green beans
1 Tbs oil
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
4 fl oz water or veg stock
1 tsp cumin spice
⅛ tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp coriander spice
~130g chopped tinned tomatoes
½ tsp salt
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin
some fresh ground black pepper
(¹½ of a veg stock cube optional)
Wash and trim the green beans, and cut them across in ¼” pieces. Mix the ginger and garlic together with about 1-2 Tbs of the measured water or stock.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat. When hot, put in the cumin and chilli and stir. As soon as it darkens, pour in the ginger-garlic mixture. Stir and cook for about a minute. Add the coriander and stir a few times. Add the tomatoes and cook 2 minutes, mashing up the pieces of tomato as you do. Put in the beans, salt and the remaining water or stock, bring to a simmer. Turn down and simmer for about 15 min or until the beans are tender. Remove the cover and add lemon juice, cumin and some freshly ground pepper (and crumbled ⅓ stock cube if used). Turn the heat back up to medium and boil away all (or most) of the liquid, stirring occasionally as you do.
This will go nicely with anything you want to jazz up a bit, say pork steaks or chicken portions. Alternatively, turn your favourite samosas into a proper meal with these beans and some brown basmati rice.
If you want to do the proper fresh ginger and garlic version, I’ve found the recipe online here:
Spicy Green Beans (Masaledar sem)