Thai Bean Cakes

Ingredients:

This was inspired by a recipe in this weekend's Guardian newspaper, but I changed around a bunch of stuff to suit my needs. Check your Thai red curry paste to make sure it's vegetarian (or vegan) - sometimes they like to slip a little fish into it when you're not expecting it. Luckily, I got a jar of homemade red curry paste for christmas from a friend, so I know exactly what's in mine.

Makes 12-15 two inch cakes.

1 400g tin of butter beans
1 large spring onion (scallion), chopped
1 big handful fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup flour
salt & pepper
lime wedges
olive oil

Drain the beans and place in a food processor (or large bowl) along with the spring onion, coriander, red curry paste, and coconut. Chop until you have a chunk puree. If you don't have a food processor, a stick blender or a potato masher will also work. Add the flour, season, and mix further until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Step 1:

Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a nonstick pan and turn flame to medium-high. When oil is hot, drop dollops onto the pan, making sure that the cakes dont touch.

Step 2:

Shallow-fry until golden brown, then flip and press down to flatten.

Step 3:

Cook another another few minutes until the other side is also golden brown, and serve with lime wedges or sweet chili or peanut sauce dips.

I had mine as a meal, on a bed of green beans, but these would work equally well as party food with a variety of dips, or burger-sized, eaten on a bun.