I’ve been getting into South American and Mexican food lately after re-reading
the beautifully-photographed World Food Cafe recipe book and authors Chris and
Carolyn Caldicott’s travels through the orange-sunset Americas.
As I sit here, barely able to type with frozen
hands, and the woodburning stove behind me spluttering the last log, filling me
with Withnail-ian thoughts of burning the furniture, despite what little there
is in my ramshackle cottage, I can’t think of a place I’d rather be than
Brazil.
This recipe is a take on the South American
country’s traditional black bean stew. Normally, you’d add a few vegetables
like cubes of carrots, sweet potatoes and turnips or something, and in the
Caldicotts’ book, no meat. But this is all I had in the cupboard, and as it
turned out pretty well and kept the cold at bay for an hour or two, especially
with the high chilli content, I thought I’d share it with you...
CHICKEN
AND BLACK BEAN STEW
(serves
2)
6
chicken drumsticks
2
small onions
4
fat cloves of garlic
1
tbsp beef dripping
2
teaspoons cumin seeds
2
teaspoons extra hot chilli powder
2
handfuls of fresh coriander
Salt
400g
tin of black turtle beans
Melt the dripping in a pot and fry the drumsticks
on all sides until lightly browned. Roughly chop the onions and garlic cloves
and add them to the pot, stirring away over a medium flame for a couple of
minutes. Add the cumin seeds and continue to fry for another minute or so.
Add half a cup of water and cook away, turning the
chicken from time to time, until the water has evaporated into a thick syrup,
then add another half cup of water and the chilli powder.
Put the coriander in a tub of water and wash well,
then leave in the water so any mud sinks to the bottom of the tub (there is
nothing worse than grit in a stew). Cut or twist off the roots and leave the
leaves in the water. Roughly chop the roots and add them to the pot and cook
for another ten minutes, adding a little more water if necessary.
Add the turtle beans (including the purple liquid the
beans come with) and stir for a minute until thoroughly coated. Cook over a low
heat for another five minutes, stirring from time to time, and at the end add
salt to taste and stir in the chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with warm tortillas (which you can heat
either by putting them on top of the woodburning stove, or by turning them a
couple of times in a dry frying pan, or pinging them for 30 seconds in a
microwave if you’ve got one).
