Goan Guar Beans are an Indian side dish, commonly served with rice and curry.
You can serve this side dish with most Indian Thali-style rice and curry meals.
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📕 What are Guar Beans?
Guar or Cluster beans look just like green beans, but they are more bright green and they are flatter.
In India, it is a very common vegetable, and in the last decades, this bean variety has been receiving some extra attention from the Industrial world for its “gum” (i.e., guar gum)
Besides that, it is commonly sold in Indian markets as a fresh vegetable produce.
Look out for these international terms and Guar bean terms in grocery stores and markets: Gaur, Gavar, Guwar, Guar, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba and cluster beans.
🥘 What is this dish?
In India, cluster beans/ guar beans are braised or stir-fried with spices. Cluster beans taste a bit of bitter, even after cooking.
Regional varieties call this side dish by different names, such as gawar sabzi, gavar bhaji or in Goa they call it chitjo mitjo bhaji.
I found that, different communities in the state of Goa may prepare this dish as per their customs. So, variations do exist.
This side dish is then served along with rice, curry, other small quantities of vegetable side dishes, pickle, and pan-fried fish or seafood. It's a staple weekday meal.
A complete dish like this is known as a Thali, and it's most commonly served as a lunch or dinner meal.
🧅 Ingredients
- Oil
- Onion
- Tomato
- Cluster Beans aka Guar Beans — Fresh beans are difficult to come by in Western countries. You might encounter these beans in an Indian or Asian specialty store. Another idea is to grow cluster beans in your garden with cluster bean seeds purchased online.
- Water
- Salt
- Black Pepper — ground
- Turmeric — ground powder
- Ginger and Garlic Paste — or Ginger finely grated and garlic taken through the garlic press.
- Green Chili Pepper — fresh, elongated green Asian chili variety. Not Jalapeños.
- Coconut Raw — only freshly shredded coconut should be used here. You can get a coconut from the store and take out the white coconut pieces. The white pulp then needs to be taken through a food processor to shred it small. OR shred coconuts like Indians, but you will need a special coconut scraper tool.
Truthfully, the easiest way to recreate this dish is when in India. You will easily find all the ingredients in a small neighborhood store.
I definitely recommend renting a small flat with a kitchen on a trip to India. That way, you can experiment and learn to cook with local ingredients.
🔪 How to make it?
Goan Bhaji side dishes are a great entry-level dish to learn cooking food from the western coast of India.
Step 1
Prep the beans by cutting off the ends. Slice onion, dice tomato and slit open green chili.
Step 2
Heat up oil in a pan and cook onion, tomato and green chili pepper soft.
Stir in guar beans, and follow up with the water and remaining seasoning ingredients.
Step 3
Cook everything until the beans a cooked and no water remains in the pan.
Take from the heat and mix in grated fresh coconut and serve up hot as a side dish.
📖 Recipe
Goan Guar Beans Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Ounces Guar Beans aka Cluster Beans
- 1 Onion sliced
- 1 Tomato diced
- 1 Green Chili Pepper ground
- 1 Tablespoon Oil canola, vegetable or sunflower oil
- ½ Cup Water
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
- ½ Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic paste or finely grated
- 3 Tablespoon Coconut Raw Freshly Shredded
Instructions
- Prepare the cluster beans. Rinse the beans, cut off the ends and slice the beans into smaller ½ inch pieces.8 Ounces Guar Beans
- Slice onion, dice tomato, slit open green chili pepper in half.1 Onion, 1 Tomato, 1 Green Chili Pepper
- Heat up a pan with oil and sauté onion slices over a medium heat setting.1 Tablespoon Oil
- Stir in tomato pieces and the slit open green chili pepper. Cover the pan with a lid and cook covered for 2 minutes to soften the tomato.
- Add the cluster bean pieces and mix them in.
- Cover the beans with the water. Season with salt, black pepper, turmeric and ginger garlic. Mix it well.½ Cup Water, ½ Teaspoon Salt, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Ground, ½ Tablespoon Ginger + Garlic
- Cook for about 10–15 minutes over a medium-high heat setting uncovered, until the vegetables are cooked through but not mushy overcooked. There should be no liquid left in your pan.
- When done cooking, take from the heat and mix in the shredded coconut.3 Tablespoon Coconut Raw Freshly Shredded
- Serve hot as a side dish with Goan or Indian meals.
Notes
Nutrition
🍴 Serving
Traditionally, Goans serve this guar bean side dish with cooked Goan rice and red curries, such as fish curry or sorak curry.
It's an affordable vegetarian side dish, and a combination meal with curry rice and other side dishes is known as a Thali in India.
Every region in India has a Thali version of their own. These are whole weekday lunch or dinner meals.
This particular guar bean side dish is a Goan Bhaji (from the state of Goa) and locals eat it with fish curry, pan-fried fish or seafood, pickles and other vegetable bhaji.
I like spiced guar beans with Goan Masoor dal lentils and with mackerel para fish.
🍱 Storing
I prep this dish whenever we are in Goa for 5 months. We have it for lunch and the rest is meal prepped for the week.
I recommend storing them in a rectangular airtight glass container. They keep well for over 6 days in the fridge.
To warm up, I simply place the glass container in the oven for a short time. But you can also reheat them over the stove top in a pan or in the microwave.
👁️ More Indian vegetable side dishes
- Goan Kokum Okra Bhaji
- Goan Spiced Ivy Gourd
- Goan Red Amaranth (Tambdi Bhaji)
