I’m not really getting the hang of this food blogging thing. I’m so busy cooking and then eating that I keep forgetting to take photos. Oh dear. Here is a recipe for home-made baked beans, anyway. I’ve never made them before but I’ll certainly be making them again. The basic principle is some sweetness, some sourness, some heat and some tomatoes.
Ingredients
Butter beans (soaked overnight, pressure-cooked for 20 minutes). Note: most recipes call for cannellini beans, but I think any bean will do
Spring onion or celery, sliced or diced
Tomato passata, half a carton
Tamarind paste (I use the ready-made stuff in a bottle by Heera)
Soy sauce
Marmite
Smoked paprika (I ordered some online by La Chinata)
Maple syrup
One red chilli, dried
Natural yogurt
Lemon juice
Method
Fry the celery or spring onion, or both, in oil. I use cold-pressed rapeseed at the moment, because you can get it cheap from Aldi (I could tell you it’s because it has a higher smoking point, but no, it’s because it’s cheap from Aldi)
Add the beans, and shake over a good dose of smoked paprika, coating the beans
Add the red chilli. If you don’t want it too hot, slice the chilli in half and scrape out the seeds
Add half a carton of tomato passata
Add about a tablespoon-ful of tamarind sauce, a teaspoon-ful of soy sauce and if it’s still not umami enough, a teaspoon of Marmite. Add a tablespoon-ful of maple syrup.
Cook for ten minutes or so, not too high
Add a tablespoon-ful of natural yogurt to get a creamy sauce
Taste it, salt it, and if it still needs a kick, add a splash of lemon juice