Saed News: Pinto bean stew is one of the traditional and popular Iranian dishes, especially favored among vegans, as it is prepared without meat or chicken. Thanks to its rich bean content, it is highly nutritious and energizing. Today, we’re going to teach you how to make this wholesome dish.
Ingredients for Pinto Bean Stew:
Pinto beans: 400 grams
Potatoes: 2
Tomatoes: 2
Onion: 1
Salt, black pepper, and hot chili pepper: to taste
Sweet paprika powder: 1 level teaspoon
Turmeric: 1 level teaspoon
Instructions:
Start by washing the pinto beans with water. If you have time, soak them for 12 hours or overnight. If you're short on time, place the beans in a pressure cooker, close the lid, and cook for 15 minutes on heat. Then drain and rinse the beans, and return them to the cooker to help eliminate their gassiness.
Cut the two tomatoes in half and place them in the pressure cooker along with one peeled whole onion and a pitcher of water. If you like, you can also add a few cloves of garlic, some bell pepper, or a piece of lamb bone for extra flavor—though it's fine if you don’t have these on hand.
Close the pressure cooker and after it starts to whistle, let it cook for another 15 minutes. (If you're using a regular pot, start timing after it begins to boil, and let it simmer for 45 minutes.) Once done, remove the cooked tomatoes and onion and blend them together with turmeric, sweet paprika, hot chili, black pepper, and salt using an immersion blender. Add this mix back into the stew.
Cut the potatoes into triangles and add them to the mix. If you wish, you can also add mushrooms. Taste for salt again, close the pressure cooker, and let it cook for another 20 minutes (start timing once the pressure cooker begins to whistle). After this time, your delicious stew will be ready. You can enjoy it for breakfast or lunch, served with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and Persian hogweed (golpar). Enjoy!
Golden Tips:
Instead of cooking the raw onion in the stew, you can finely dice and sauté it, then add it to the dish.
If you don’t have tomatoes, you can use tomato paste. Sauté it with the onions and the mentioned spices, then add it to the stew to let it simmer.
If your stew is too watery and lacks thickness, sauté a heaping tablespoon of flour with the onions and tomato paste and stir it into the stew.
