Lobio Image Used Under Creative Commons License From bestgeorgian.com
My Citizens, the undimmed culinary lighthouse that is TFD is proud to share yet another recipe from the culinary dynamo that is the proud country of Georgia! :)
Lobio (Georgian: ლობიო) is a traditional Georgian dish of various kinds of prepared beans (cooked or stewed), typically containing coriander, walnuts, garlic and onion. There are many varieties of lobio, both hot and cold.
The dish is said to have (unsurprisingly) originated in Georgia. The dish most likely predates any division of the lands into countries. As with many Georgian dishes, lobio is spicy, but not necessarily hot.
While there are many ways of making lobio, the most common of which is a cold dish called lobio nigozit, typically made with dark red kidney beans which are cooked and then mashed with garlic, onions, walnuts, coriander, marigold petals, chili pepper and vinegar, and then allowed to marinate overnight. A hot version is usually made with white beans.
In other hot varieties lobio may contain meat. Beans would be put in the pot with water and spices and allowed to sit overnight. The following day, the pot would be placed over a fire or, if available, in a small exposed oven, and the beans slowly cooked. At the appropriate stages, meat and other vegetables would be added to cook. The cooked lobio would then be served in the clay pot, along with a flat cornbread.
Lobio, in its traditional format, progressed to become a standard recipe the ingredients of which varied depending on the area in which it was cooked. Traditionally and best made in a clay pot, I love using these small ones for individual servings.
My version adapts from many of the classic styles of Lobio to make a knockout version of the dish that will be guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of your lucky guests at your next lunch, dinner, or gathering! :) Sources for the more unusual spices such as Pennyroyal, smoked chili flakes, Georgian blue fenugreek and Svanetian salt may be found on the Internet.
Battle on – The Generalissimo
Ingredients
- 400 grams of dried red kidney beans
- 100 grams of marinated mixed sweet and hot peppers, minced
- 20 grams of fresh parsley
- 1 large tomato
- 1 onion
- 30 grams fresh cilantro
- A large pinch of ground Georgian marigold petals (preferred) or saffron
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 bay leaves
- a pinch of freshly-ground coriander seeds
- 3 ½ tbsp. walnut oil (preferred) or other oil
- salt to taste
- ½ heaped tbsp. lobio spices
- ***
- Ingredients for lobio spices:
- ½ whole small head of garlic
- ½ tbsp. of dried coriander
- ¼ tsp of crushed dill seeds
- ¼ tsp of dried Pennyroyal (also called squaw mint, mosquito plant and pudding grass), buy it from Daphnis and Chloe here or use regular mint if unavailable
- ½ teaspoon ground Georgian blue fenugreek or use regular freshly-ground fenugreek seeds
- ½ heaped tsp of dried Summer Savory
- ½ heaped tsp of coarse red pepper flakes (TFD prefers smoked pepper flakes from Daphnis and Chloe)
- Salt to taste, preferably Svanetian salt
Instructions
- For the Lobio spices - combine all in a food processor until finely ground
- Soak beans in cold water for two hours prior to cooking. Drain water and add beans, bay leaves and salt to a deep pot containing 1.5 liters of water. Cook on a medium heat until the beans are tender.
- Chop the fresh coriander, tomatoes and onions.
- Add fresh and dried coriander, Blue Fenugreek, garlic, black pepper and a pinch of salt to a mortar.
- Grind the ingredients with a pestle.
- Fry the chopped onions in a pan with hot oil.
- Drain the water from the cooked kidney beans but keep 200 milliliters in a separate jug to use later. Use the back of a wooden spoon to mash the beans on the side of the pot. Add the ingredients that were crushed in a mortar, together with fried onions and the oil they were fried in.
- Combine all remaining ingredients until completely mixed, add the 200 milliliters of bean water (saved when draining the beans).
- Transfer the ingredients to a pot and cook on a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. We baked ours in individual clay pots in the oven.
- Serve hot.
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