This black beans curry recipe is so fragrant, tasty and super filling. It’s a low carb plant based dish made with coconut milk, carrots, spinach, green beans, pepper bells and pairs well with cauliflower rice.
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Another curry recipe? Yes, that’s right! I’m totally in love with plant based curries right now. They are nutritious, very very filling and darn right tasty, if you pair it with the right balance of ingredients. No slow cooker is needed for this recipe, just some black beans and sturdy stove top and you are good to go!
Although, this recipe isn’t exclusively Caribbean let me explain where my love for legumes comes from. Growing up in a Caribbean household legumes (or pea’s as we call them) were a dietary staple.
There wasn’t a week that went by without consuming “peas” because they constitute the Jamaican Sunday dinner (rice and peas).
For me “peas” play a crucial role in my upbringing and not something I could ever remove from my lifestyle. As a blogger I’ve learnt to embrace different types of legumes from pinto to kidney beans. They all have the rightful place in Charla’s world.
The health benefits of black beans
- High in fibre which can lower the bodies cholesterol thus decreasing the risk of heart disease
- Naturally low in cholesterol so it won’t contribute towards any LDL (Low density lipoprotein) the bad cholesterol which can build up in the arteries.
- Suppresses the appetite because it expands in the stomach yield a fuller feeling
- Helps to ease constipation
- A great source of plant based protein
- They contain several minerals and vitamins including folate, iron, B6 and potassium
Before I go onto discussing the recipe to hand, let’s talk about dried black beans. While dried beans are a pain in the butt because they take forever to cook, on the plus side they are incredible affordable. I consume a lot of legumes so as a result I simply cook a large batch and freeze them down.
That way I have some to hand when I want to make a curry and not have to go through the process of soaking, simmer and waiting around for them to cook.
How to cook dry black beans
First of all you want to soak the beans and rinse the beans after times if possible. This legumes contains fibre and complex sugar can be digested which can be problematic for people with digestive issues.
Resulting in gas, cramps and/or bloating. You can reduce the impact of the aforementioned by soaking the beans overnight for at least 2-3 hours.
How much dried beans do you need
The beans double in size therefore only 1 cup is needed. This is about the equivalent to what a can of beans tends to be.
Instant pot – Use about 4 cups of water to top the beans with and simply set on high pressure, seal the valve and adjust the cooking time to 20 minutes. Once the beans have cooked allow to unit to do a natural release which takes 15 minutes.
Stove top – conventional way, but slightly longer. Bring a medium sized saucepan (filled half way) to a boil reduce then simmer for up to an hour. The beans will be soft and tender when cooked, keep an eye on the water levels and top up if needed.
Pressure cooker – Fill the pressure cooker by half, make sure the valve is seal, bring the cooker to the boil then reduce to medium and pressure cook for 25 minutes.
Tools that you may need
Casserole pot – I personally prefer to cook most of my dishes in these types of pots now because I find the height of them allow me to accommodate more liquid and vegetables hassle free.
Dried black beans
– afforable, bulk buy lasts for a long time
Freezer friendly containers
– A great way to store any leftover cooked curry.
Spoonula
(spatula/spoon)
How to make vegan black bean curry
- Pour the oil into a frying pan/casserole pot on medium heat
- Saute the onion, garlic and scallion until translucent and soft
- Once soften, add the ginger, bell peppers, green beans and carrot and combine and cook for 5 minutes, stirring throughout the given time.
- Pour in the passata (tomato) then season with curry powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, parsley, thyme and salt
- Add the beans, coconut milk , water, spinach and chilli then give a final stir.
- Bring the pan/pot to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer on medium heat for 40 minutes.
- Serve accordingly
How to make this curry in an instant pot.
- Which the instant pot unit on and select “saute” then pour the oil into the inner pot
- Saute the onion, garlic and scallion until translucent and soft and then “cancel” the saute option so the rest of the ingredient cook using the residual heat
- Now add the ginger, bell peppers, green beans and carrots
- Pour in the passata (tomato) then season with curry powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, parsley, thyme and salt
- Switch on the unit again and select “saute” and cook the vegetables for 5 minutes
- Add the black beans, coconut milk, spinach and chilli
- cancel the “saute” option and adjust the to high pressure time using the “=/-” button for 20 minutes.
- Allow the unit to come to pressure which takes several minutes then leave to cook for the stated time
- Once the unit has indicted that the curry is cooked leave for a natural release which takes about 10-15 minutes.
Notes and tips
- Cook beans are much more better friendly and time saving, see recipe on how to best prepare them.
- The curry isn’t overly hot, but feel free to leave out the chilli if you don’t want any heat.
- I used 1/4 of a birds eye chilli, use whatever fresh chilli you can get hold of
- If you cannot obtain fresh ingredients then use dried, the recipe card shows how much you will need instead.
- If you cannot get hold of coconut milk simply use coconut yoghurt instead
- To reduce the calories even lower, use light coconut milk instead
- This recipe is freezer friendly so freeze in containers for up to an month or refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days.
- The curry will thicken up as it cooks especially towards the end of cooking. If the curry is sticking in the pan for too thick, add a splash of water to loosen it up.
Other legume recipes you may like
Vegan Caribbean plantain curry
Caribbean curried butter beans
Pigeon pea Caribbean salad
Red pea soup
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Vegan black bean curry
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cooked black beans or 2 cans drained or 1 cup of uncooked, see recipe post
- 1 can of coconut milk 400ml
- 1 cup of water 250ml(don't add this water if cooking in the instant pot)
- 2 large carrots sliced and halved
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup green beans chopped (45g)
- 1 cup spinach tightly packed(30g)
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp of fresh ginger grated
- 2 scallion sliced
- 1 tbsp curry powder heaping
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup passata tomato puree(125ml)
- 1 tbsp of fresh parsley chopped (or dried)
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 tbsp dried
- 3 tbsp of coconut oil
- 1 tsp of himalayan pink salt or to taste
- 1/4 of bird eye chilli finely chopped (or 1/8 tsp of dried/flaked chilli)
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a frying pan/casserole pot on medium heat
- Saute the onion, garlic and scallion until translucent and soft
- Once soften, add the ginger, bell peppers, green beans and carrot and combine and cook for 5 minutes, stirring throughout the given time.
- Pour in the passata (tomato) then season with curry powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, parsley, thyme and salt
- Add the beans, coconut milk , water, spinach and chilli then give a final stir.
- Bring the pan/pot to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer on medium heat for 40-45 minutes.
- Serve accordingly
Notes
- Cook beans are much more better friendly and time saving, see recipe on how to best prepare them.
- The curry isn't overly hot, but feel free to leave out the chilli if you don't want any heat.
- I used 1/4 of a birds eye chilli, use whatever fresh chilli you can get hold of
- If you cannot obtain fresh ingredients then use dried, the recipe card shows how much you will need instead.
- If you cannot get hold of coconut milk simply use coconut yoghurt instead
- To reduce the calories even lower, use light coconut milk instead
- This recipe is freezer friendly so freeze in containers for up to an month or refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days.
- The curry will thicken up as it cooks especially towards the end of cooking. If the curry is sticking in the pan for too thick, add a splash of water to loosen it up.
Nutrition
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