Red Bean Stew With Fried Onions and Cilantro Recipe (2024)

This is one recipe that cries out for the use of a pressure cooker in Step 2. (In third-world countries from Mexico to Brazil to South Asia, people who get most of their protein from legumes are completely dependent on pressure cookers )Ms. Clark, you previously published a great recipe that used an Instant Pot: I'm wondering why you didn't at least mention that as an option: have you stopped using that device?

Most bean experts say that salt added in the early cooking stage toughens the beans, and should be added towards end of cooking. I have found this to be true with most bean recipes.

After following this advice, I did a test and salted the water and pressure cooked beans -- figuring that if tough, more time in the cooker would solve the problem.The beans were fine, maybe better texture.Then Serious Eats did a test, which verified my experience. They found that that salting the soak water (1.5% brine; directions given there) as well as cook water worked best, giving better flavor.Link:http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/salt-beans-cooking-soaking-water-good...

I cooked the beans in my Instant Pot. 45 minutes on high pressure. No soaking required. Natural release. I love your Dinner in an Instant book. Use it all the time.

Not true! Salt infuses the beans, elevating the flavor with no increase in toughness.This is a myth perpetuated by recipe writers copying previous bean recipes!!

Hey, people, you truly don't need either an instant pot or pressure cooker to cook dried beans. Throw them in a bowl, cover generously with water, let them soak overnight, drain the next morning, put them on the stove with more water for a couple of hours, and they're done--with just about zero time spent by you.

I have had this dish, or very similar one, in a restaurant outside of Tbilisi GA where it was served with a piece of cornbread that acted as a lid. We were told the custom was to crumble the cornbread into the beans.

It is a myth that adding salt toughens the beans. See for example Kenji Lopez-Alt on Serous Eats who has done controlled experiments and advises to add salt.

Are canned beans ok in this recipe?

I’m trying the recipe now, using Rio Zane beans from Rancho Gordo, in the pressure cooker.

I think "generic" fenugreek is fine, I too have not heard of "blue" fenugreek", my 90 year young Mom says it used to be dyed to preserve it until the next season, before refrigeration. You can find the seeds in Indian grocery stores and grind it in coffee grinder. Additional hint: plant some of the seeds in a small planter. It sprouts soon and the leaves are delicious when young. Such fun to learn how we are getting so "global" in our cuisines. Food unites us!

In the accompanying article, Ms Clark makes it clear that:a) Georgia the country, not the US stateb) regular fenugreek seed is not a substitute for blue fenugreek leaf.However, she doesn't tell us whether regular fenugreek leaf (available in any Indian store, or grow at home from the seed) can substitute for blue fenugreek leaf.And yes, really, use a stovetop pressure cooker or instant pot. Even counting the time taken to bring the pressure up, it will still take much less time.

Should Indian fenugreek be used as an alternative if you do not have the blue fenugreek used in Georgia....or is it better to just omit it?

The recipe marks the dried fenugreek leaf optional. For this recipe, Indian stores have a dried leaf called Kasoori Methi that can substiture (Methi=Fenugreek).

Most legumes also cook beautifully in a slow cooker, with no fuss whatsoever.

This stew was a great way to make a meal with things we had on the house. The simplicity was surprising and the result was better than expected. The cilantro comes through strong which brightens the very thick feel of the dish. We served it with a Bulgarian sheep’s cheese and extra dog balsamic for a drizzle. The addition of a crusty sourdough brought the meal together nicely. Best eaten by candlelight - my daughter-in-law noted, “This looks like something Shrek would make”.

I used lemon balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice and basic balsamic vinegar. It was so tasty!

Phenomenal exactly as written. We used whipple beans from Rancho Gordo. We didn't have fenugreek, so omitted it. The dish is bursting with flavor, deep and complex and satisfying. We'll definitely be making this again.

I had a lot of cilantro in the garden so this recipe was perfect and very delicious. I used regular fenugreek, a whole cup of fresh oregano and lime juice since that is what I had on hand.

2T pom molasses no lemon juiceFenugreek leaves

Made this in a Dutch oven with Rancho Gordo bayo chocolate beans and it was outstanding.

OK Melissa Clark fans. You know that package of red beans sitting in your pantry and that bottle of pomegranate molasses you bought and then forgot about it? Here is the platform for a compelling combination. The earthy beans are woken up with with cilantro/garlic/coriander pepper paste and then transformed with the molasses and lemon. I suspect this gem would also freeze well and offers a way to transform pedestrian beans into something exotic.

Fenugreek leaf from the Indian stores is not the same as blue Georgian fenugreek. In Georgia (formerly USSR), blue fenugreek and a variety of marigold are used for flavoring.

So flavorful! I cooked the beans in the instant pot — good tip by commenters — and basically followed the rest of the recipe as written. Used plain fenugreek (even on Amazon I couldn’t find the blue variety)! Fun to cook a new cuisine and learn a little bit about Georgia tonight!

Agree wholeheartedly with comment about pressure cooker. I've used a stovetop one for some time. Just started using an instant pot. Revolutionary. It's really the best gadget and I don't buy every gadget. If you're a bean cooker, it makes all the difference.

Is there a substitute for the cilantro?

I used cranberry (a.k.a. borlotti) beans because it's what I had on hand; pressure-cooked them; and otherwise followed the recipe. The balance of flavors iand textures s fabulous, and the bang for the buck in terms of time and money expended is very, very high. We were a little worried that we overcooked the beans, but that only made them creamy and mashable. I will definitely make this again!

Very tasty, but could use a little more punch -- more onion or cayenne perhaps.

This is a regular in my rotation and my husband loves it. Depending on the age of my dried beans sometimes it takes up to 3 hours of simmering to get them tender, so be aware that this might take some extra time. I do the herb paste with my stick blender and add the juice of 1 lemon to help lubricate it a little. I usually wind up adding 3-4 extra cups of liquid (water or vegetable broth) in addition to the bean cooking liquid to get a stew-like consistency.

Will definitely make this again. Ended up adding a bit of liquid to the beans about 30 minutes from the end of cooking, and used all reserved liquid to make it "soupy" at the end, so that was a good call. Found tkemali, fenugreek, and suluguni at a local Russian grocery. Worth it, though suluguni is very mild so may try ricotta salata next time. Loved the crunch of onions and sweet tart pomegranate seeds with tkemali on top. Served with mchadi (easy to make), looking forward to the leftovers.