Burned Beans - Yemeni Dish

There is one part of Yemen I try to take it with me wherever I go, pictures sometime do the trick, amazing memories always in my heart but when it comes to something tangible then only one thing that can cure my nostalgia ... if you are thinking about food then you are absolutely right. Since I came to here I made sure that I have everything I need to cook my favorite Yemeni dishes, I brought everything; the actual stone dish you cook with and all spices, I make sure that every year I have my stash of all I need starting from coffee ending with dried chili, I know it is not the easiest thing to do specially Yemeni Cuisine is somehow time consuming but it totally worth all the effort that you will make to have it around. 
Yemeni food most of the time is healthy, even when it is not, it is really easy to change the recipe to become it more clean and it is rich with flavors. Add to that, because of Yemen strategic location the cuisine is very diversified, what they cook in the mountains is different from what they cook in the coast and what the cook in the desert is different from what they cook in the valley and since we are neighbors to different cultures that influenced our cuisine so much.

Anyhow, yesterday I was longing for Yemeni food but I didn't want to screw my system and since I am beans lover I decided to make one of my favorite Breakfast/dinner dishes of all time (by the way in Yemen/Arab the meals system is a little different, Breakfast is light but should contain a lot of protein and fibers the same with dinner, the main meal of the day is lunch where we have different dishes, dessert and so) we call it in Arabic ( Fasolia Nashif or Mo7araka) which literally means Burned beans or Dry beans and the name comes from the way we cook this dish, as you will see how below ;)

Ingredients:

Burned Beans (Yemeni Style - My Little Healthy Twist 

1 can small white beans (good quality) drained from water
1 medium Onion finely chopped 
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium Tomato finely chopped
1/2 Yellow pepper chopped
1  green hot chili sliced 
1/4 cup coriander roughly chopped 
1 teaspoon hot chili sauce (optional) 
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1/2 Tablespoon Cumin
1/4 Tablespoon black pepper
1/2 Tablespoon dried coriander
Salt to taste  


Directions:

In non-stick pan heat the olive oil on medium high, saute onions until they caramelize add garlic and stir until it become fragrant add tomato and peppers and decrease the heat let the tomato release the juices add the beans and stir before the whole water evaporates mash half of the beans with the back of your spoon to create sticky texture, add the salt and spices and press genitally to the bottom of the pan increase the heat leave for 3-5 minutes to get the bottom all dry and slightly burned and flip the beans like you do with eggs and let it burn from the other side  as well.

slide it to a serving dish and top it with the fresh coriander and sliced chili, you can serve it with Arabic bread or by itself.


Recipe makes 2 servings of 298 g

Calories per serving is 216, saturated fat 2 g

This recipe is good for you because:

• High in protein
• No cholesterol
• Very high in vitamin C