I like to eat meat with every meal, but I do have a favorite childhood recipe that I sometimes cook up that (gasp!) doesn’t include any meat.
When I was a child in South Africa my grandmother would fast (abstain from meat) once a week. We lived with her and she lived for cooking and so on the days in which she was fasting we would all be fasting for dinner too.
My favorite dish is beans curry. It includes lots of protein and no meat! It has taken me many tries and it’s still not nearly as good as my grandmother’s, but I will fill you in on my recipe.
I love my Crockpot and use it every chance I get, so I start the night before I plan on having beans curry for dinner. I add my beans to the Crockpot, fill it with plenty of water and set it on low. It slow cooks all night.
The next morning, I add salt to the Crockpot and continue to let the beans cook. Around lunchtime (if you don’t have time mid-day you can do this step in the morning) I start cooking my curry paste. I add a finely chopped onion to some ghee or coconut oil and sauté on medium heat. I let it cook for a few minutes, then I add ground ginger and chopped garlic, and sauté a few minutes again. Finally, I add my spices: masala, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and cumin. I make that mixture into a paste, then I add one large can of crushed tomatoes. I cook that for about 10 minutes.
I then drain about 80% of the water from the Crockpot, adding my tomato/spice mixture to the Crockpot and I turn it on high. I peel and dice two potatoes adding them to the Crockpot. It should cook for at least three hours.
I like to eat my curry with Roti (Indian bread). I buy the frozen kind, so I just add ghee to a pan and cook both sides and serve the Roti hot. It is delicious. Some people like rice with it; I put Basmati rice in the rice cooker to serve with it.
