Lobio Food

LOBIO RECIPE

Steps:

• Rinse the beans and place them in a bowl with water. The water should cover the beans by 3-4 inches. Soak the beans overnight or for 10-12 hours.
• Drain the soaked beans and rinse them a few times. Transfer the beans into a cooking pot, fill it with water to cover the beans by 1 inch. Bring the beans to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 1-2 hours. One hour into the cooking remove 3 beans from the pot and taste them. If all of them are soft - beans are ready.
• Drain the beans reserving all cooking liquid. Return half of the beans to a cooking pot and mash them with a potato masher.
• Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until they are a size of a buckwheat seed or smaller. If you don't have a food processor, you can chop the walnuts by hand or add them to a plastic bag, seal it and pound with a rollin pin.
• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan and over medium heat. Add onion and sauce for 10 minutes until it's soft and translucent. Add beans, walnuts, Hmeli-Suneli, Cayenne pepper, 1 cup of tomato juice and Balsamic vinegar. Give everything a nice stir and add more tomato juice if necessary to thin out Lobio. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add garlic pushed through a garlic press, cilantro, stir for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. Lobio is ready.

GEORGIAN BEANS (LOBIO)

Steps:

• Soak beans overnight or cook beans for 2 minutes in plenty of water and allow to sit for one hour.
• Drain water from beans and add plenty of fresh water to cover with onion, carrots and celery. Cover and simmer for about one hour, until beans are tender, but not mushy. Drain and set aside.
• Simmer the prunes in 1/3 cup of the vinegar for 20 minutes.
• With food processor running, put garlic through tube. Add remaining vinegar, tamarind paste, hot pepper flakes, coriander seed, fenugreek, olive oil, prunes and vinegar and process to a paste. Add the cilantro and process to chop fine. Season with salt and pepper. Stir into warm beans.

ABKHAZIA: WALNUT LOBIO

Steps:

• Drain the kidney beans and place in a pot with a small amount of water. Warm over low heat.
• Chop the walnuts, onion and garlic and cook in melted butter for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove the beans from the stove and pour away most of the water. Mash the beans, then add the onion mixture and the chopped cilantro. Add salt to taste.