Red Kidney Bean Curry: Your Favorite East-African Meal
published by Ali Satchu on Jun 10, 2008
A very easy-to-make recipe that originates from Tanzania, is very nutritious, and very tasty. Serve with pita bread, regular toasted bread, or rice.
Originates from the eastern parts of Africa from countries like Tanzania and Kenya where it’s almost used as a staple food mostly eaten with rice and sometimes with Ugali (flour bread) which is another topic for another day.
Ingredients
- 1 can of red kidney beans.
- 1 whole cooking onion (yellow)
- 2 medium sized tomatoes
- 1 fresh lemon or lemon juice (2 tsp)
- 1.5 tea spoons of turmeric spice
- 1.5 teaspoons of red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 table spoon of sunflower oil (or your favorite oil – do not over heat olive or canola oil)
Preparation
- Drain kidney beans from the can and rinse under cold water and put aside.
- Chop onions and tomatoes to small size – approximately an inch
- Heat oil on medium for about 3 minutes and add onions to fry in oil
- When onions turn light golden or yellow add the tomatoes and your turmeric, chili and salt spices. Mix well and mash to create curry like paste. Let cook for 3-4 minutes
- Add in your kidney beans and 2 cans of water. Stir in and let cook for about 5-7 minutes
- Add lemon juice and let stand for 10 minutes
Enjoy your meal! It’s full of fiber and protein.
Serves 3-4.
Tips
- Substitute kidney beans with any other kind of favorite beans to create variations of curry
- Substitute Beans with small cubes of chicken and instead of water add 1 cup of water and half a can of crushed tomatoes to make chicken curry.

# 1 by PM
September 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am #
made this twice now, first time with 2/3 can of water and secong time 1/3 can of water.
the first time i found if was quite “watery” hence reduced the water the second time round and added an extra tomato to try and thicken it up a little bit.
Is this dish supposed to be very watery?
i am a bit new to this style of cooking, and curious as to what purpose the lemon juice is for and the 10 minutes standing?
if any one can advise i would appreciate it.
great quick filling receipe though!