A touch of Africa: kidney bean curry

Filling, nutritious cupboard gourmet food.

My friend Anna made us this kidney bean sauce with rice when we were visiting her in Portugal, maybe four years ago. It's a fast, cheap and delicious recipe that Anna got from an African woman who worked in the market hall in Turku with her. We make this pretty often now, and it makes me think of Anna and of Africa – even if I have no idea if this is really is a typical dish anywhere on that big continent.

This has become our emergency food of sorts because the main ingredients are dry or tinned things we mostly have in the house already – so when we think there's no food in the house, we can still probably make this yummy curry!

Suggestion: Serve with bulgur which is a whole wheat that can be sourced more regionally than rice. Plan for 100 ml uncooked bulgur per perso.

Anna's African kidney beans

1 onion
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp oil for frying
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin coconut milk
500 passata (sieved, pureed tomatoes)
1-2 tsp salt
Pinch of sugar
Chili, white pepper and pepper to taste


Dice an onion and crush the garlic clove so the flavours will be released. Warm up a pot (big enough to hold all the ingredients) to medium heat. Add the oil, throw in the onion and garlic and fry them gently until they turn slightly transparent and soft. Rinse the kidney beans, then add the beans and passata in the pot and let it all simmer for about five minutes.

Boil the bulgur according to instructions on the package or count one part water to one part bulgur and boil the grains until the water has evaporated, about 10 minutes. 

Add the coconut milk to the sauce last, heat it up but don't let it boil anymore. Season the dish to your preference, but a little heat is definitively nice here.