Loubia

Ingredients

Beans

• 500 gdried white haricot beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
• 1bay leaf
• 1.5 litreswater

Sauce base

• 5 tbspolive oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 8garlic cloves, crushed with 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspground cumin
• 1 tspground caraway (optional)
• ½ tspcayenne, or 1 tsp harissa
• 2 tbsptomato puree
• 3ripe tomatoes, grated
• 1 tspdried oregano

To finish

• salt and black pepper
• 1 handfulflat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 handfulcoriander leaf, chopped
• kesra or crusty bread, to serve

Directions

1. Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh water in a large pot with the bay leaf, bring to the boil and boil hard for 10 minutes, then skim off the foam.
2. Lower to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, unsalted, until the beans are tender but still holding their shape; salt added early keeps the skins tough.
3. While they cook, heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat and soften the onion for 8 minutes until translucent and just starting to catch gold.
4. Add the garlic paste and cook for 1 minute, then the paprika, cumin, caraway and cayenne, frying for a further minute until the oil turns red and the spices smell toasted rather than dusty.
5. Stir in the tomato puree and cook it out for 2 minutes, then add the grated tomatoes and oregano and let the sauce bubble for 8 minutes, until thickened and glossy and the oil separates at the edge.
6. Tip the sauce into the beans along with about 600 ml of their cooking liquid, and stir gently so you do not break them up.
7. Season now with salt and pepper, and simmer uncovered over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the broth has thickened to the consistency of a loose stew and clings to the beans.
8. Crush a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot with a spoon and stir them back in; this thickens the sauce naturally without any flour.
9. Taste for salt, cumin and heat, stir in the parsley and coriander off the heat, and rest 10 minutes before serving with bread to mop the pot.

Technique

• Loubia is defined by the quantity of garlic and cumin, not by the beans. Be bolder with both than feels reasonable; timid seasoning gives a bland pot.
• Frying the paprika briefly in oil, the dersa step, is what gives the sauce its red colour and rounded flavour. Stirred in raw at the end it tastes chalky.
• Old beans never soften, whatever you do. If a batch is still chalky after 90 minutes, the beans were too old rather than the cooking too short.
• It is Friday and Ramadan food, cheap and filling, and every region claims its own balance of cumin to caraway.

Substitutions

• Tinned haricot or cannellini beans work for a 25-minute version: skip to the sauce, then simmer 15 minutes with 400 ml water.
• Butter beans give a creamier, softer pot, common in the west of the country.

Variations

• Loubia bel karnoun adds sliced cardoon stems in the last 20 minutes.
• A tomato-free white loubia, seasoned only with garlic, cumin and olive oil, is the older version.
• Some cooks add cubes of potato in the final 20 minutes to stretch the pot.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loubia?

Loubia is a soup & stew from Algeria: white beans slow-cooked with garlic, cumin and tomato.

How long does Loubia take to make?

Loubia takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Loubia?

Yes, within limits. Tinned haricot or cannellini beans work for a 25-minute version: skip to the sauce, then simmer 15 minutes with 400 ml water. Butter beans give a creamier, softer pot, common in the west of the country.

What is the most important thing to get right in Loubia?

Add the garlic paste and cook for 1 minute, then the paprika, cumin, caraway and cayenne, frying for a further minute until the oil turns red and the spices smell toasted rather than dusty.