#GreenMondaySA: Smokey bean soup with homemade bread

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Bean Soup

• Half a kilogram of speckled beans
• Three bay leaves
• Three cloves garlic
• Two cups vegetable stock

Gravy for Soup

• ½ cup oil
• One large onion
• One sachet of tomato paste
• One tablespoon of smoked paprika
• Three tablespoons cake flour

Bread

• Risen yeast mixture (wet ingredients)
• One (10g) sachet of yeast
• One cup of warm water
• One teaspoon of sugar

Flour mixture (Dry ingredients)

• Seven cups of flour
• One tablespoon of salt
• 2½ cups water

Method

Bean Soup:

1. Soak beans overnight in water
2. Rinse beans
3. Add all ingredients together with 3L water
4. Bring to boil
5. Add the gravy to soup mixture
6. Simmer until beans are soft (two-2½ hours)
7. Add one teaspoon of salt
8. Add extra water as needed

Gravy:

1. Heat oil until hot, add chopped onions and stir until caramelised
2. Add three tablespoons of cake flour and let it brown slightly
3. Add a sachet of tomato paste, mix thoroughly
4. When all combined and sizzling, add one heaped tablespoon of smoked paprika

Homemade Bread

1. Combine all wet and dry ingredients together
2. First, add risen yeast to flour mix and start kneading the dough and add the remaining water while kneading
3. Knead for about 10 minutes until you get a medium mixture
4. Dough is ready when it starts separating from the bowl
5. Cover bowl with cling wrap until it doubles in size (approximately 1 hour)
6. The mixture will make two loaves of bread.

Recipe courtesy of Zoja Burke for HSI, Africa

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