[BobandJack]

Another one from the divine Ms. Jaffrey

5 oz dried red red kidney beans, picked over washed well, soaked overnight & drained OR 1 can kidney beans washed & drained
14 oz (4-6 ) medium size turnips
1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/8 - 1/2 chilli powder
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion cut in half & cut crosswise into fine rings
2 - 3 cloves garlic peeled & finely chopped

Put dried kidney beans into a large pan, add 2 pints water & bring to boil.  Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Turn heat down & simmer partially covered for 1 - 1 1/2 hrs until cooked through.  NO need for this if using canned beans.

Peel turnips & cut into 4 wedges each.
Put ground ginger, turmeric, salt & chilli into a small bowl, add 1 tbs water & mix to smooth paste.

Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, when hot put in turnips & brown on all sides, remove with slotted spoon & set aside.  Put the onion in the same oil & stir & fry until medium brown.  Turn heat down slightly & add garlic, stir for a few seconds then add spice paste, stir once & turn heat off.

If using dried beans add turnips & onions to it & add a bit of the bean liquid to the frying pan used to fry onions & return to pan.  If using canned beans, add & just swish frying pan with a bit of water then add 1 to 1 1/2 pints of water (depends how much wet sauce you like).  Bring beans too a vigorous simmer, turn heat to low, cover partially & simmer gently for 45 minutes or until cooked through. 

Goes really well with plain rice & greens & would probably work with any kind of beans - borlotti, cannellini etc but red beans give it a good colour & are way cheap.

[sunshineband]

We have this a lot in the winter. It is divine 

[HLS]

Sounds very nice.  Which book is it from?  I've been meaning to buy myself one of her cookbooks for a while and can't decide which!

[BobandJack]

It's from A Taste of India which is probably the book we use the most, I think we have all of her books.  If you're not already familair with cooking Indian food I would get hold of her book Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, it's an excellent book which we've been using for 25 years or so.  The recipies are easy to follow & the techniques are clearly explained.  If ever there was a book that changed my life (well my eating habits anyway) it has to be this one.  Can't recommend it highly enough.  There's a fabulous recipe in it for turnip & lamb stew which has to be tasted to be believed - as the great woman herself says "turnips are the most under rated vegetable in the world"
Strangely enough, by pure fluke we are having Kashmiri turnips & red beans for tea   

[HLS]

Thanks, Sian420 - at least one of those is going on my Christmas list!

I'm not sure whether I'd count myself as familiar with Indian cooking techniques or not - I've got a book of curries (organised by North/South/East/West India and regions of South-East Asia, and covers more styles of cooking than the title would suggest - it's not a huge book, though) and I'm happy doing things like cooking pulses, not burning cumin seeds, cooking basmati rice and making tarka, but I've only got the one book and I'm not sure how it compares to the way Madhur Jaffrey explains things.  What prior knowledge would be the deciding factor in whether to get 'A Taste of India' or 'Indian Cooking'?

[sunshineband]

It's from A Taste of India which is probably the book we use the most, I think we have all of her books.  If you're not already familair with cooking Indian food I would get hold of her book Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, it's an excellent book which we've been using for 25 years or so.  The recipies are easy to follow & the techniques are clearly explained.  If ever there was a book that changed my life (well my eating habits anyway) it has to be this one.  Can't recommend it highly enough.  There's a fabulous recipe in it for turnip & lamb stew which has to be tasted to be believed - as the great woman herself says "turnips are the most under rated vegetable in the world"
Strangely enough, by pure fluke we are having Kashmiri turnips & red beans for tea   

 I agree Sian, it is an awesome book and I love it to bits. I also have MJ's Cookbook and MJ's World Vegetarian and I can highly recommend both 

[BobandJack]

The Taste of India book has a lot of recipes that call for ingredients that are harder to find unless you have an Asian community close at hand, although I suppose these days you could probably get stuff on line.  It's not especially difficult to follow and has some really nice pictures too but it is more complex than the the other book which is a great introduction to Indian cookery with good & maybe more familiar dishes in it, it's probably cheaper too as it's a smaller book.  You could always have a look on Amazon & see if you can pick either of them up cheap.  I've found the "introduction" book several times in charity shops for pence & have bought it for friends.  What can I say I started off with that one & now have 5 more and use them all.  I like Indian food   Even better when you've grown the veg yourself  

[HLS]

Thanks, that's very useful.  I've got loads of cookbooks and don't seem to use most of them, so I'm a bit choosier about which I get these days!