As someone whose job is to show up with two brand new food recipes that taste and look good every single week, I tend to get periodically obsessed with certain ingredients, which tend to fall out of grace as soon as I have moved on to something else. Fickle, I know. By that time I typically would have eaten (tested) so much of the ingredient in question that it doesn’t even feel like much of a betrayal to be honest.
My very latest obsession, super seasonal right now in the UK, is for green beans and it’s been going on for a few weeks now. I always make sure to buy UK-grown ones as, even though we are bang in the middle of the season, many supermarkets appear to be bringing them all the way from Kenya and Zimbabwe. Not cool when they grow so well here. This dish, inspired by the Sri Lankan mallung is one that we’ve been enjoying a lot lately. I added coconut encrusted tofu, but it is a bit of a faff to make so, if you are in a rush, feel free to skip that component and replace the tofu with toasted cashews, for example. This simple dry curry makes for a delicious midweek dinner. It’s essentially a stir-fry so it comes together really quickly. The beans get stir-fried with spices first and then finish off cooking in a little bit of liquid. For an even more pronounced coconut flavour, you are welcome to use coconut milk instead of water at the end. The dish is lightly spicy, fragrant with spices and a splash of lime juice offsets the sweetness of toasted coconut beautifully. I love serving it with plenty of chopped coriander and a handful of toasted cashews instead of chunks of tofu if I’m after a quick meal. I hope you’ll enjoy this dish.
200 g / 7 oz firm tofu, pressed 2 tbsp ground flax (I used golden flax seeds) or chia seeds 2 tbsp lime juice + 2 tbsp water 2 tsp maple syrup or sugar 1 tsp finely grated ginger 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garam masala 2 tbsp rice flour, any flour approx. 75 g / ¾ cup desiccated coconut oil (I use rice bran), for greasing the tray
BEANS
