Dhaba-Style Beans Aloo: A Yummy Mix Of Beans, Tomatoes & Peanuts

The dhaba-style Beans Aloo is a dish loved by one and all, especially those who avoid onions and garlic. It comes with gravy and goes great with roti, naans, and rice too. Because of the nutritional value of soluble fibres, proteins, and other minerals in beans, it is cultivated widely in India. The dried form of beans is processed as lentil or dal, while the green slender fresh pods are cooked as vegetables.

Indian Street food is unprecedented in the world in terms of its variety, options, ingredients and tastes. “Dhaba” is derived from the word “dabba”. Dabba means tiffin and refers to the food eaten by travellers. Dhaba food essentially talked of truckers who spend a large chunk of their lives on the road and relied on these dhabas to eat. Dhabas are eateries dotted along the country's road-side, especially in Punjab and Haryana. This food is palatable, and colourful and generally comes with a big dose of ghee. Dhabas are extremely popular in the whole of North India. Talking of Punjabi dhabas, clarified butter is a must-have.

So, in this dish, we cook beans in dhaba style. It has the good old homely feel of a dollop of ghee, the quintessential goodness of Indian spices topped with the smoky peanuts. To add carbohydrates, we combine boiled potatoes. The tomato gravy is laced with a punch of cardamom, ginger and fried peanuts. 

Here’s the recipe for dhaba-style Beans Aloo.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized boiled potatoes
• 200 gms beans
• 2 medium-sized chopped tomatoes
• ½ cup fried peanuts
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 red dry chillies
• 20 gms ginger
• 3-4 cardamoms
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp ghee
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt and sugar, to taste

Method:

• Cut the beans into 3-6-inch pieces and stir fry them in a bit of oil for 5 mins.
• To make gravy, take tomatoes, ginger, fried peanuts, and cardamoms, and grind them into pasta with some water.
• In the wok, stir-fry the beans, add whole red chilli, cumin and add the blended gravy.
• Stir fry the beans, then add whole red chilli and cumin.
• Once the cumin crackles, add turmeric and chilli powder.
• Now, add the gravy.
• Add salt and sugar for tempering.
• Let this simmer for 5 mins on low flame.
• Now, add the coriander powder, mix, and add the boiled potatoes.
• Give everything a mix and add the fried beans and let it simmer for 10 mins.
• Once all of this is mixed, add ghee, and garam masala, and let it sit for another 5 mins.
• Remove from flame and serve.