Kenyan coconut kidney beans (maharagwe) with rice
Red kidney beans simmered in a gently spiced tomato and coconut sauce until creamy, the Swahili-coast home cooking that’s comforting, cheap and ready in about half an hour.
- 40 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.79 a serving
- 720 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice, rinsed
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1½ tsp curry powder
- 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
- ½ lemon (optional)
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
Each serving has about 720 calories, 19 g protein, 98 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $1.79 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No kidney beans? Pinto beans or black beans work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, water and 1 teaspoon salt in a and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low 18 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
While the rice cooks, heat the oil in a large over medium heat and cook the onion 7 minutes, until at the edges.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, curry powder and turmeric and cook 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes, mashing them with your spoon, until they collapse into a sauce.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Add the beans, coconut milk and ½ teaspoon salt and 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick and creamy.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 13 min
Dolly’s tip: Keep it at a gentle bubble. Coconut milk can split if it boils hard.Taste for salt, add a squeeze of lemon, and serve over the rice with cilantro.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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