I haven’t had soul food in so long that I was really craving it and this is one of the popular dishes. When I seen the pole beans in the store I said omg I got to have them and yet again I have to stop lying because I wanted them all along. This is how extremely bad I was craving this vegetable. It can be done in a couple of ways either veg or non veg.
This is a straight forward unassuming and very simple dish with not a lot of ingredients and yet at the same time extremely tasty. It is very hearty as well and very satisfying and it very much sticks to your ribs. It also keeps you full for hours and great to eat in the winter time.
To start off I added 1/4 cup of olive oil to either a pressure cooker or a regular pot on the stove and I ground 1 pinch of peppercorns to get this dish started in my mortar and pestle. I also had to take the strings off and cut 1 lb or 1 kg of pole beans in to five segments. The pole beans have little strings on them and to take them off all you have to do is to cut the stem off and run the knife gently remove the strings from this vegetable.
Nothing is more annoying then getting a bunch of strings in your mouth while you are eating. You can either do this even towards you or away from you and be careful that you do not nick the vegetable not just yet. When the strings are off then you can cut in to the five segments and repeat until you are down to your very last one. Do not forget the knife has to just glide on down the pole bean itself before cutting. With this done and out of the way you can continue.
Cut 1 onion or shallot in to half moon slices and add to the oil on high heat on the stove, let onion or shallot caramelize then add 2 cloves of garlic chopped. Chop 4 slices of zabiha halal turkey or beef bacon and add to the onion mixture and stir until it renders for a smokey flavor. This remains in the pot or you can add some smoked turkey if you like too for the non veg method. For the vegetarian or vegan method add 4 dashes of liquid smoke, either add 1 bullion cube or 4 dashes of seasoned salt. Add 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma, the contents from the pressure cooker or regular pot, 1 drop of hot sauce and stirr.
Vegetarians and vegans can add liquid smoke and seasoned salt instead of bullion. For all methods it will work just as well. Add the prepped pole beans, 3 potatoes scrubbed and quartared. You can peel them if you like because this is optional. Add 1 liter or 1 quart of water over the pole beans and potatoes making sure it is well covered.
If using regular stovetop method like I did then turn the heat down to low cover and let cook for 40 minutes or until everything is nice and soft or pressure cook method is for 30 minutes after the safety button pops up and then the heat is turned off to let the pressure escape. When there is no more pressure in the pressure cooker then you can open it safely.
The end result is just yummy in the tummy and served with cornbread. Try this it is so yummy. MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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