Green Beans Alu Posto - Green Beans & Potatoes in White Poppy Seed Sauce

Green Beans Alu Posto

Green beans are plentiful at the market throughout the year. Make sure to pick up at least a pound because they reduce considerably during cooking. The white poppy seeds need to be soaked in boiling water and left to cool at room temperature before blending to a smooth paste.

Fresh Green Beans

The mound of green beans looks pretty daunting at first, and it would be awfully tedious to remove the stem and tail ends one bean at a time.

Ready to chop

However, they are easily dealt with if they are lined up, ten at a time, and chopped up in batches. Line up the stem ends and remove with one slice of the knife. For this preparation, I cut the beans into small 1/2" lengths and removed the tail ends.

Recycle those Plastic Bags

Here's how I recycle those plastic bags in which vegetables are packed. Lined inside a deep bowl all the vegetable scraps can be disposed of and the bag easily lifted out and thrown away with minimal fuss.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh green beans, stems & tails removed and diced

1 russet potato, cubed

6 Tbsp. white poppy seeds, soaked in a cup of boiling water, cooled and blended

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 tsp. nigella/kalonji/kalo jeera seeds

2 hot green chillies, minced

3 hot green chilies, left whole & slit

1/2 cup boiling water

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Blend poppy seeds to a smooth paste with salt and half the green chilies.
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, sputter nigella seeds and remaining green chilies.
3. Add potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Stir and add green beans and simmer until vegetables are soft.
5. Cover with blended poppy seed paste along with a half cup of boiling water and simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. When the gravy reaches desired consistency, remove from heat and garnish with slit green chilies.

Serve with steamed rice or any Indian bread.