Warm Flat Beans Salad

Sweet, slightly bitter Indian Flat beans are simple boiled and topped with nutty cumin and lots of garlic.
By Chinmayie Bhat

I love vegetables. I eat at least one vegetable dish with every meal. I like my vegetables very simple, not overcooked or over spiced.  I try to keep them as simple as possible. Mostly I cook them in a stir-fry with basic Indian spices but I also love them boiled, roasted, steamed or baked.

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Here’s one more vegetable dish from my kitchen. Indian flat beans are a family favourite. They have a slightly bitter yet sweet taste. Soft when cooked well and crunchy when raw they are wonderful both ways. In this it’s simple boiled with a tempering of garlic and cumin.

I cooked the flat beans till soft but you can also just blanch them if you want to retain the crunch. Don’t throw away the water it was cooked in. Use it in soups and curries for extra flavor and nutrition.  I used an entire pod of garlic. Use more or less depending on your taste.

Though it doesn’t sound fancy, it tasted so good! Leave the cumin out if you are not too crazy about it but I really loved the nutty flavours of it with the pungent garlic. Though I typically serve veggies like these with rice and curry, this one was better as a warm salad. My husband can eat a huge bowl full of this for lunch.