Favorite Beans

Doug’s Favorite Beans combines black-eyed peas with coconut milk, bell peppers, lemon, and a separate onion-based vagar. The beans and seasoning are cooked in two parallel stages.

The peas simmer with green chili, ginger, turmeric, salt, and optional kombu until almost tender. Red and green peppers, coconut milk, lemon juice, and optional gur are added only near the end.

The vagar is cooked separately and slowly so the onions become deeply caramelized. It is poured over the beans just before serving, with chopped cilantro added as the final garnish.

Ingredients

• 3 cups dried black-eyed peas
• 9 cups water
• 1 fresh green chili, slit at the end
• 3 slices fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 stick kombu, optional
• 2 large red bell peppers, cubed
• 2 large green bell peppers, cubed
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon gur or brown sugar, optional
• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups onions, sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh green chilies, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for garnish

Method

For the beans, combine the black-eyed peas, water, whole green chili, ginger slices, turmeric, salt, and optional kombu in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans are almost done, about 40 minutes. Add the bell peppers, coconut milk, lemon juice, and optional gur and cook about 10 minutes more. For the vagar, heat the ghee and olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat, add the onions, minced chilies, and ginger, and cook slowly until caramelized, up to 30 minutes. Pour the vagar over the finished beans, garnish with cilantro, and serve. Makes 8–10 servings.