These 10 -minute Bengali spicy green beans are bold, crunchy and delicious

Here is a simple, aromatic vegetable garnish that can be tossed together in minutes – until you have a fresh green beans, and it can easily make the Bengal Panchphoran spice. The fragrant spice mixture of brown or black mustard seeds, cumin, fenugreek, nigella seeds, fennel seeds and sesame seeds are briefly hot oil in a frying pan before green beans and a few tablespoons of water be added quickly to the pan; The pan is then covered to briefly steam and apply for the beans before it is discovered until it is covered with a crisp, delicious spice mixture. The pan should cook for less than 10 minutes and are well paired with chicken, fish, other proteins, or simply serve on a rice bed.

In 2007, I started using this Bengali spice mixture in my Panchphoran catering company, UN-Curry. The first dish I made with the mixture was a recipe for cooked chopped potatoes coated during seasoning. Simple potatoes were converted by a flavor explosion. It was the first bite for me and my host clients. Then I started using Panchphoran with green beans. I found that the fine, grassy taste of the green beans is perfectly coupled with the walnut tasting, aromatic spice mixture. Panchphoran beans are now a popular dish in most of my family.

What is Panchphoran and why I love

When people say they love Indian food, I thank them. I also explain that since India is a large country where migration and settlement has long history, it is home to a variety of kitchens, there is no “Indian” food in itself. The recipes of the regional and Bengal spice mixture in this recipe are an example of this regionality. I come from Maharashtra on the west coast of India, but Panchphoran (which means “five spices have to be shown”) comes from the Bengal state on the east coast of India. It is also used in some states, which are Bengali border, including Odisha and Bihar.

I asked my friend, Mondira (Baneji) Jaisimha, who is of Bengal origin, about her spice mixture. “Paanch Phoron (Panchphoran) brings back the memories of my paternal grandfather's home, my maternal grandparents' house in South India, and the happy days my mother cooked Bengal food!

Panchphoran has traditionally been brown or black mustard seed, cumin, fenugreek, mixture of Nigella seeds (also known as Charnushka) and fennel seed. Each seed brings its own unique taste and texture into the mixture: the brown (or black) mustard seed has a dijon-like, slightly pepper flavor if it is bitten; The cumin is mild and smoky; Fenugreek has maple syrup notes and bitterness; The seeds of the nigella onions; and the fennel seeds have a sweet anise taste. Put the five spicy mixtures in hot mustard seed oil, which Bengalis favors (or your favorite high smoke neutral oil) and you will get a complex aroma and flavor profile in which each spice is harmonized, yet it is recognizable on its own. Although sesame seeds are not conventional in the mixture, I would like to add them to a rich nuts.

To serve Panchphoran's suggestions

While I love Panchphoran with green beans, the spice mixture combines a lot of other vegetables, including broccoli, spinach, butternut pumpkin and white radish, and potatoes. The recipe makes almost a full cup of spice mixture, much more than the recipe. However, since the spices are integer, this mixture remains fresher and tasteful than powdered spices. Store it in a dish in a cool, dark cabinet and last for up to four months.

The key steps of green beans coated with perfect spice

As we have outlined above, cooking green beans with spices is quite simple and fast, but there are some key steps to avoid burned spices or hard, leather beans. To avoid destroying the seeds and spices, as the oil is very hot, start with a tester mustard seed – if you pop up, you are ready to go and remove the pan from the heat, add the spice mixture and cook briefly before adding the green beans and returns the mixture.

I'd rather use the green beans with Haricot Verts, which are usually slightly gentle than other green beans, and faster because they are thinner, but every green beans will work. If you use a beans that have not been removed their strings – such as the Fresh Farmers Market Beans, I suggest you pull them, so give yourself a few more minutes for this preparation.

Chapatis, Naan or white rice is well coupled with these beans as part of an Indian meal. The dish makes a fine accompaniment for steak, chicken, fish and other proteins. Or you can simply serve them on top of white rice for a simple, light dinner.

Cooking method
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