Spicy green beans

This can be made as a side dish or a perfect accompaniment to other curry dishes.

Ingredients
500g long green beans (1 pack)
1/2 large white onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
curry leaves (or 1 bay leaf)

1 green chilli (you can add more or less)

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon red chili powder (you can add more or less)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt, pepper

Oil - sunflower is used traditionally, but you can use olive oil

Coconut milk - to make it in the traditional Sri Lankan style

black mustard seeds - optional

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Important

Spice powders - please use curry powders from an Indian store E.g. Madras curry powder.

Coconut milk (optional) - please use cans (from Thailand) or Sri Lankan Maggie coconut powder.

1. Clean and cut the beans into smaller pieces. Cut them at an angle for a better appearance (I forgot to do this😆!)

2. Peel and slice the onion, mince the garlic, ginger and green chili, set aside with the curry leaves.

3. Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the beans on a medium-high heat. Add the curry powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, pepper and stir, allowing the spices to coat the beans. Cover with a lid if possible, stirring often for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the beans in case they start to burn, adding a bit of oil or reducing the heat slightly.

4. Reduce heat to medium, and add the onions, garlic, chilli and curry leaves. Cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring often, until the beans are tender and cooked.

5. Serve with rice.

6.Additional steps/variations

In Sri Lanka this dish would traditional be cooked with coconut milk. Once the beans are almost tender, add coconut milk (200ml approx.) during the last 5-10 minutes, and let the beans simmer.

For extra flavour - In a separate frying pan, heat some mustard seeds in oil. Once the seeds start to pop add some diced onions, and fry until the onions are golden-brown.

Add the golden onions to the cooked beans and mix.

You could also cook the beans, onions, garlic, spices etc in coconut milk from the start, and add the mustard seed - oil mix at the end. That way, you won't be adding oil twice.

There are several variations😊

Comments

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