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Georgia, Middle East and Africa

Lobio

Georgia's beloved bean stew: soft, half-mashed red kidney beans cooked with fried onion, walnuts, garlic, coriander and Georgian spices.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 38 min
Soaking+ 8 h
DifficultyEasy
About servingsRaw or undercooked red kidney beans contain a toxin (lectin) that causes food poisoning. Always boil soaked beans hard for at least 10 minutes before turning the heat down, and never cook dried beans from raw in a slow cooker.

Method

  1. Rinse the beans and soak them for in plenty of cold water, at least three times their volume. They are ready when nearly doubled in size and the skins are smooth.

    Add in this stepDried red kidney beans 140 g

  2. Drain off the soaking water and put the beans in a 20 cm pot with the fresh water and bay leaves. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat and boil hard for (do not skip this), then turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for . Top up with hot water if the beans start to poke out. They are done when a bean squashes easily between your fingers.

    Add in this stepWater 1,100 mlBay leaves 1

    high heat→medium-low heat

  3. While the beans cook, finely chop the onion. Heat the oil in a 18 cm pan on medium heat and cook the onion for , until soft and translucent with pale golden edges.

    Add in this stepOnion 1Sunflower or vegetable oil 1½ tbsp

    medium heat

  4. Pound the garlic, walnuts, coriander, fenugreek, pepper flakes, savory and salt in a mortar into a moist paste. Without a mortar, chop the walnuts very finely with a knife and grate in the garlic.

    Add in this stepGarlic cloves 2Walnuts 30 gGround coriander ¾ tspGround fenugreek (for blue fenugreek, utskho suneli) ½ tspRed pepper flakes ½ tspDried savory (or dried thyme) ½ tspSalt 1 tsp

  5. Remove the bay leaves. With a potato masher or the back of a ladle, mash about half the beans in the pot, leaving the rest whole. If there is too much liquid, spoon a little off to get a thick stew. Stir in the fried onion and walnut paste and cook on low heat for , stirring, so the flavours blend.

    low heat

  6. Turn off the heat, stir in the chopped coriander and the vinegar, and leave for 5 minutes so the flavours settle. Taste for salt and serve warm with cornbread or bread and pickles.

    Add in this stepFresh coriander (cilantro) 10 gRed wine vinegar 2 tsp

Cook's tip

With canned kidney beans, replace steps 1–2 by simmering the rinsed beans in a little water for 15 minutes (canned beans are already cooked and safe). Lobio tastes even better the next day and is also good cold. Sour plum sauce (tkemali) instead of vinegar gives a more Georgian flavour.

Cooking it at camp

Soaking and boiling beans at camp takes too long, so cook them at home or use canned beans. On the stove, fry the onion, add the beans and walnut paste and simmer for 15 minutes: one pot, done. Pound the walnut paste at home and carry it in a tub.