Kuru Fasulye — Turkish White Bean Stew

Tender white beans slowly simmered in a rich tomato and pepper sauce, the national dish of Turkey.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1h 30m
Total: 1 hour 45 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Very Easy

Ingredients

  • 400g dried haricot beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water and drained
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 long green peppers, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 2 tbsp Turkish tomato paste (domates salçası) or tomato purée
  • 1 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, grated
  • 1 litre hot water
  • 1 tsp pul biber (Turkish chilli flakes)
  • 1 tsp salt, added at the end
  • 30g butter

Method

  1. Put the soaked beans in a pan, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil. Boil for 10 minutes, skim, then drain.

  2. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the onion and peppers for 8 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and pepper paste and stir for 2 minutes.

  3. Stir in the tomatoes and the drained beans, then add the hot water and pul biber.

  4. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until the beans are creamy and tender and the sauce is thick, adding hot water if needed.

  5. Stir in the butter and the salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with rice and pickled vegetables.