Vegan Black Bean Curry (Instant Pot or Stove Top Option)

This curry recipe is made from highly nutritious black beans and it is so fragrant, tasty and super filling. A plant based dish made with coconut milk, carrots, spinach, green beans, pepper bells and pairs well with cauliflower rice. A versatile recipe that can be made on the stovetop or pressure cooker!

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 a sturdy stove top or pressure cooker 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 (

Before I go into 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 incredibly 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.

Ingredients you will need

• Black beans - For this particular recipe I highly recommend using cooked/canned black beans has this will drastically reduce the cooking time.
• Onion/scallion/ginger and garlic - This are the base ingredients/foundation for this curry dish.
• Curry powder - I like to use my home Jamaican curry powder, but any will work!
• Carrots/green beans/bell peppers/spinach - A good curry recipe ALWAYS needs some bulk which is why vegetables are included for nutrients and colour.
• Coconut milk - Make sure your milk is full fat not light.
• Passata - I prefer to use passata and not chopped tomatoes because the texture is pureed.
• Paprika/cumin/parsley/thyme - This is my choice in herbs and spices to use in this recipe.
• Chilli - For a subtle hint of heat.
• Black pepper and pink salt - To enhance the taste.
• Olive oil - For sauteing

How to cook dry black beans

First of all you want to soak the beans and rinse the beans, several times if possible. Legumes contain fibre and complex sugars that cannot 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 1-2 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 - affordable, bulk buy lasts for a long time
• Freezer friendly containers - A great way to store any leftover cooked curry.
• Chopping boards 
• Spoonula (spatula/spoon)

The steps

• Pour the oil into a frying pan/casserole pot on medium heat
• Saute the onion, garlic, scallion and ginger until translucent and soft
• Once softened, add the bell peppers, carrots and green beans 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.
• Do a taste test and add pink salt, if needed.

Instant pot version

• Switch the instant pot unit on and select "saute" then select the "+/-" for "5 minutes" then wait for the inner pot to heat up.
• Pour the oil into the inner pot.
• Saute the onion, garlic, scallion and ginger until translucent and soft and then "cancel" the saute option so the rest of the ingredients cook using the residual heat.
• Switch on the unit again and select "saute" .

• Now add the bell peppers, carrots and green beans.
• Sprinkle in the curry powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, parsley, thyme and pink salt
• Add the passata (tomato), black beans, coconut milk, spinach and chilli
• Press "cancel" and adjust to "pressure cook"  then press 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.
• The sauce of the curry will thicken up as it cools down.
• Do a taste test and add pink salt, if needed

Notes and tips

• Cooked beans are handy 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.
• This is the recipe you will need for the Jamaican Curry Powder and Cauliflower Rice.
• I used ¼ 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 a 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 or too thick, add a splash of water to loosen it up.

Other legumes recipes to try

• Plantain Curry
• Refried Gungo Peas
• Caribbean Curried Butter Beans
• Jamaican Curry Chickpeas
• Stewed Kidney Beans
• Vegan Caribbean Salad
• Caribbean Potato Curry
• Red Peas Soup
• Cuban Black Beans (Frijoles Negros)

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Vegan Black Bean Curry

This curry recipe is made from highly nutritious black beans and it is so fragrant, tasty and super filling. A plant based dish made with coconut milk, carrots, spinach, green beans, pepper bells and pairs well with cauliflower rice. A versatile recipe that can be made on the stovetop or pressure cooker!

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Entree

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Calories: 286kcal

Author: Charla

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 tablespoon olive oil (56g)
• ▢ 1 medium onion chopped
• ▢ 4 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 2 scallion sliced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (7g)grated
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper chopped
• ▢ 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
• ▢ 1 green bell pepper chopped
• ▢ 2 medium carrots sliced and halved
• ▢ ½ cup green beans (45g)chopped
• ▢ ½ cup passata (125ml)tomato puree
• ▢ 1½ tablespoon curry powder (9g)heaping
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon paprika (3g)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin (1g)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper (2g)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped (4g) (or dried)
• ▢ 4 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 tablespoon dried
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pink salt (6g)or to taste
• ▢ 3 cups black beans (516g) or 2 cans drained or 1 cup of uncooked, see recipe post
• ▢ 14 oz coconut milk (400ml)
• ▢ ½ cup water (118ml)
• ▢ 1 cup spinach tightly packed(30g)
• ▢ ¼ bird eye chilli (0.75g)finely chopped (or ⅛ teaspoon of dried/flaked  chilli)
• ▢ adding additional pink salt, if needed

Instructions

• Pour the oil into a frying pan/casserole pot on medium heat
• Saute the onion, garlic, scallion and ginger until translucent and soft
• Once soften, add the bell peppers, carrots and green beans 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 black beans, coconut milk , water, spinach and chilli then give a final stir.
• Bring the pan/pot to a rolling boil, cover, reduce to simmer on medium heat for 40-45 minutes.
• Do a taste test and add pink salt, if needed
• Serve accordingly

Instant Pot Version

• Switch the instant pot unit on and select "saute" then select the "+/-" for "5 minutes" then wait for the inner pot to heat up.
• Pour the oil into the inner pot.
• Saute the onion, garlic, scallion and ginger until translucent and soft and then "cancel" the saute option so the rest of the ingredients cook using the residual heat.
• Switch on the unit again and select "saute".
• Now add the bell peppers, carrots and green beans.
• Sprinkle in the curry powder, paprika, black pepper, cumin, parsley, thyme and pink salt.
• Add the passata (tomato), black beans, coconut milk, spinach and chilli.
• Press "cancel" and adjust to "pressure cook"  then press 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.
• The sauce of the curry will thicken up as it cools down.
• Do a taste test and add pink salt, if needed

Video

Notes

• • Cooked beans are handy 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.

• • This is the recipe you will need for the Jamaican Curry Powder and Cauliflower Rice.

• • I used ¼ 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 a 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 or too thick, add a splash of water to loosen it up.

Nutrition

Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 630mg | Potassium: 892mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 7607IU | Vitamin C: 133mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 4mg

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