Bean Salad

So, Nigella says, one should not strive to be original in the kitchen, rather one should simply make good tasting food adopted from anywhere. This a classic case of a recipe adopted...well...from everywhere! I have made several versions of this recipe over the years. It is easy to make, flexible and very satisfying as a meal in itself or as a part of a meal. I have tweaked my usual recipe a little here. This is the first recipe of this week, where I am using only ingredients I can acquire from my neighbourhood. So without further ado, here goes:

Ingredients: 
For the salad:
Garbanzo Beans                                                                 :1/2 cup ( that's chole for the uninitiated he he he)
Kidney Beans(Rajma mix of dark and light coloured)            :1 cups (1 cup each)
For Dressing:
Lime                                                                               : 1 (juice and zest - of 1 lime only)
Vinegar                                                                           : ½ Tbs (optional)
Olive Oil (extra virgin please!)                                           : 2Tbs
Oregano                                                                          : a pinch
Fresh Coriander                                                               : A hand full
Dill Leaves                                                                       : A hand full
Salt                                                                                   : 1 Tsp (more after tasting)
Chili Flakes                                                                       : as much as you like
Sugar                                                                                :1 tsp
Garlic                                                                               : 1 pod (not the whole thing!), crushed.
Cumin Powder                                                                 : 1 tsp
Save some (3 tbs) of the cooking water from the cooked beans as well for the dressing.Method


Soak overnight and pressure cook the beans (with a tea spoon of salt) till very soft. I cook the dark rajma separately as it takes a while longer. (Trust me, nothing is worse than crunchy rajma in this salad). Strain and keep it aside. Save some of the cooking liquid for the dressing
For the dressing, pour the olive oil (extra virgin) into a mixing bowl or a medium sized jar (the jar is what I used, it's much easier to make salad dressings in a jar). Add lime zest (scrape the skin of the lime on a grater, avoid grating the white part of the rind). Add the lime juice or vinegar if using, cooking liquid from the beans, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Close the Jar with its lid, or use a whisk (if in a mixing bowl) and shake vigorously (jar)/whisk the dressing well. The lime juice, cooking liquid and the olive oil should mix well together to result in a denser, translucent dressing. Taste the dressing for salt and spice, add more if needed.
Finely chop the coriander and dill and mix well with the cooked beans. Now slowly drizzle the dressing over the salad. Mix everything together nicely.
Keep if for 2 hours before serving (preferably) and remove the garlic before you serve!