French Beans – Oriental style

Having a cook in Mumbai is a boon and a bane. Throughout the week I don’t have time to even enter the kitchen, so to have freshly made food ready when I reach home for dinner is really a blessing. But the problem is that everything begins to taste the same after a point. Especially vegetables like beans, bhindi and even the ever-adaptable potato. In fact I dread buying beans now coz I can predict exactly what the dish my cook makes will taste like. But at this rate, we will soon run out of vegetables to eat... like cabbage – which has already gone off our shopping list. So in an effort to salvage beans, I decided to try out this Oriental style stir fried beans by just putting in whatever I liked. And I must say, the result was not bad at all!

Ingredients:
French beans - 250gms
Garlic chopped – 4 to 5 cloves
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Soy Sauce – 1 tsp
Chilli Sauce – 1 tsp
Vinegar – ½ tsp
Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce - Optional
Salt
Roasted Peanuts – a handful
Toasted sesame seeds – to garnish

Wash and dry the beans. Trim the ends and cut them into halves. In a large non-stick frying pan, put 2tbsp of oil and fry the chopped garlic till it starts to brown. Then put in the ginger garlic paste and fry until golden brown. Put in the beans and mix well. Cover the pan and let the beans cook for about 3-4min. Remove the lid, put in the soy sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, salt and roasted peanuts. For those who like it a bit sweet and spicy, you can add a spoon of Thai sweet chilli sauce for that additional tang. Stir for 2-3min. Take it out into a bowl and garnish with toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot with rice or rotis.