Red Bean and Beetroot Cakes

Time for a change of continent – and an excuse to recall Kerala, where I fell in love not only with an exciting new cuisine (far removed from the curry houses adapted to British tastes) but also a whole new palette of flavour combinations. I also discovered that my liver has a low tolerance for the huge amount of coconut milk used in Southern Indian cooking! Of course this didn’t hinder me from trying as many dishes as possible, often thali style as presented below (dessert – a wonderful dish called Paysam – came on the same tray)

So now, a favourite recipe from northern India, which is a wonderful variation on the ‘rissole’ – a regular vegetarian nightmare (closely followed by stuffed peppers). It also gives me a chance to use both beetroot and pulses, which is quite a feat.

Red Bean and Beetroot Cakes

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Ingredients

2 tsp groundnut oil

¼ small red onion, very finely chopped

1 small green chilli

2 tsp curry paste (preferably Pataks Korma or Rogan Josh)

50g carrot, grated*

175g red kidney beans, cooked (or canned, rinsed and drained)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

25g white breadcrumbs

25g ground almonds

50g raw beetroot, grated (if desperate use organic vac-packed, but pat dry)

4-5tbsp gram flour (for coating)

3-4 tbsp groundnut oil (for frying)

Makes 12 small cakes.

* rissoles with random large lumps are just not nice, so do grate the vegetables finely (but not with a microplane)

First of all sauté the onion in a small frying pan until soft and then add the chilli and curry paste. Then cook for another few minutes.

Then pop the beans, lemon juice and garlic in a small processor and pulse to a rough mash not a puree – please avoid the effect of nasty canned refried beans.  (We always try and use some citrus with pulses and wholegrains to help release the calcium, iron and zinc). If fresh garlic is too strong, just sauté some with the onion.

Take a large bowl and tip in the paste, bean mixture, carrots, breadcrumbs and almonds and mix really well.  You’ll find a lot of rissoles use breadcrumbs as a binder but I prefer using ground nuts which not only give a more interesting flavour, but also add a bit of protein (and vegetarians tend to be given rather a lot of wheat anyway). Finally stir in the beetroot. There is usually plenty of salt in commercial curry pastes so I tend not to season further – but it’s up to you!

Now form 12 cakes – large walnut size, but a bit flatter. Roll in gram flour, shaking off any excess and chill for 30 minutes. Plain flour can be used at a pinch, but gram flour (which is made from chickpeas) is far more sticky and works very well in sealing the surface of the cakes.

To cook, cover the base of a large non stick frying pan with the remaining oil and when hot add the cakes gradually so as not to reduce the temperature of the oil too drastically (that’s how rissoles fall apart). Fry gently on each side for approx 3-4 minutes (gentle is the operative word here, they can burn a little if the heat is too high). Drain on kitchen paper before serving.

Instead of serving with raita (which is rather predictable) try making a fresh relish with coriander, mint, mustard, lemon juice and oil and perhaps a garnish of cucumber and onion for a bit of crunch.