Maharagwe, or, African coconut beans

Okay, so unless I totally spaced it and have actually already posted this recipe, I'm gonna finally give into the repeated demands that I give out my recipe for the yummiest beans in the world. Okay, they're not the yummiest beans, I think that award actually goes to my dad's chili beans (which, despite adding the exact same ingredients never turn out the same way when I make them), but they are pretty darn fantastic. I learned to cook them in Tanzania and from what I could tell, they're a fairly popular regional dish, and there are lots of variations on them. You can use lentils, add ginger or tomatoes, add hominy, serve with chapatis or rice or spaghetti, whatever. But the base recipe is actually quite simple.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, maharagwe (or maharage) just means beans in Swahili.

Maharagwe

1 lb dry red beans, cleaned, soaked, and cooked
2-3 tbs oil (sunflower is what they used there, I usually use canola or vegetable here)
1 red onion, diced
2-3 carrots, chopped or grated
1 green bell pepper (or two small ones), chopped
kosher salt (regular salt works, too, just keep an eye on taste)
1/2 can coconut milk*

Heat oil in large pot, add in onion, carrots and bell pepper, saute until they start to get soft. Add in the cooked red beans and half a can of coconut milk. Add any extra liquid (either the water the beans cooked in or just water) you want, or let it cook down, depending on how soupy you want it. Let it all simmer together for a little while, and add salt to taste. Serve over the rice (jasmine or basmati is best) or spaghetti or make chapatis to go with it (I'll try to post that at some point, too - it's far more involved). You can also serve salted cucumbers with it, sliced avocados, or a sauteed spinach or cabbage (just saute up some more red onion and then add spinach or cabbage to it and cook until done). Soooo yummy.

*If you have a fresh coconut and a grater, you can do it the more authentic way: crack open your coconut and let the juice just drain out - you don't want that boring old clear liquid (unless you have some random use for it - then keep it if you want); grate as much of the white flesh as you can (I picked up something in Tanzania called an mbuzi that is specifically for this purpose, but I'm sure you inventive souls could find another way to scrape it out or break the coconut into chunks for grating). Add hot, almost boiling water (about a half cup or so) to the flesh, let it sit for a minute, then kind of massage the coconut with your hands to really squeeze the milk out. Strain out the coconut, set the milk to one side. Repeat two more times. Add the milk to the beans in the reverse order that you squeezed them in (lightest milk first), letting it simmer down a bit after each addition. Add the creamiest, first milk last to get the best flavor. (At least, I think that's the order you're supposed to do it in, it's how I've done it the last few times).

There, are you happy now, Rosemary? (Sorry, just wanted to get one more parenthetical statement in there - there's a lot in this post, huh)

Thyme