Boontijiesop | South African Bean Soup

While searching for some South African recipes to post for the series –  Flavors of South Africa for the series started by Nanya of Simply food, I came upon this bean soup. It is a wholesome soup that is a meal by itself or can be paired with buns / bread.

This soup is traditionally done in a heavy bottomed pan . So it takes a long time for the dried beans to get cooked.I have used a pressure cooker so that it gets done in 15 minutes. You can also use a slow cooker. Also Cajun spice is used in the recipe. I substituted it with garam masala.

Meat us also added but I have opted for the vegetarian version here…..

I used:

Dried beans – 1/2 cup[sugar beans / red beans]
Carrot-1, chopped
Tomato -1, chopped
Onion- 1 , chopped
Garlic- 2 pods, chopped
Potato -1, chopped
Beans-5 numbers, chopped
Oil- 1 tablespoons
Garam masala- 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder -1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Fresh cream and coriander to garnish

1. Soak the benas in water for 8 hours/ over night.Drain and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.Saute onion and garlic till translucent.
3. Put in the tomato and cook till mushy.
4. Add the soaked beans, chopped vegetables, spice powders, salt and 2 cups of water and pressure cook or 4 hisses / 15 minutes/ till teh beans is cooked but not mushy.
5. Remove from the cooker, transfer to a serving plate and serve garnished with a swirl of cream and coriander leaves.