Butter Bean Curry (Vaal Nu Shaak Recipe), Gujarati Vaal Nu Shaak (2024)

May 28, 2014 by Gopi Patel 11 Comments

Butter Bean Curry (Vaal Nu Shaak) –Butter bean also known as Lima beanis one of the ingredient not often used in Indian cooking. I haven’t seen many recipes made from this tasty protein rich legumes. Actually I didn’t even know how to cook this butter bean curry. This recipe is from my mum-in-law. She told me that the butter bean curry also known as Vaal nu Shaak in Gujarati is one of favorite curry of my hubby. This uncommon ingredient is not that easy to get hands on. So I decided to cook this tasty Lima bean curry as soon as I got it in my kitchen.

Like other legumes/lentils butter bean (vaal) takes a lot of time to cook (check out Kala chana masala recipe). So it is common practice to soak these seeds in water overnight and then pressure cooked for another 20 minutes. Hence thisvaal nu shaak recipe is a pressure cooker recipe.

Health benefits of Butter Beans

Lima beans / butter beansare very good for your health. For vegetarians they are one of the best source of proteins. They are also rich in dietary fibers.

The high fiber content in Lima beans prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after eating them. They can therefore help balance blood sugar levels while providing steady, slow-burning energy, which makes them a good choice for people with diabetes suffering with insulin resistance.They alsohelp to prevent heart disease, and may reduce the medical dosage required to combat cholesterol in the form of natural food.

Read this article for more information about Health benefits of lima beans.

Let us now check the step by step recipe of Butter/Lima bean curry made in spicy tomato and onion gravy.

Butter Bean Curry Recipe (Vaal Nu Shaak)

1. Rinse the butter beans/lima beans (vaal) in water and soak them overnight. The butter beans tends to grow in size as they soak water so make sure to add sufficient amount of water while soaking.

Like many lentils/daals, butter beans (vaal)takes a lot of time for cooking so it is best to use pressure cooker to cook them quickly. Pour the vaals in pressure cooker and cook on medium flame for around 25 minutes. Let the pressure cooker cool down on its own and check if Vaals are cooked properly or not using a fork.

2. The tough part of boiling butter beans is done. Let us start with the simple process of tempering spices in oil and make onion and tomato gravy for Vaal ki sabji.

In a non-stick pan heat a tablespoon of oil and add cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds crackles, add a pinch of asafoetida, green chili, ginger / garlic pasteandturmeric powder. I have also added garlic red chili chutney in tempering. But this is optional.

3. Throw in the chopped onions and let them saute for 3-4 minutes.

4. Once the onions turns light brown colored, add chopped tomatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes till tomatoes gets soften.

5. Its now time to add final masalas: add coriander powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and cloves/cinnamon powder and salt to taste. Mix everything well and let thespices get cooked for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.

6. The spicy tomato onion gravy is ready. Add the boiled butter beans (Vaal) in tomato onion gravy and mix it well. Cook for another 4-5 minutes on low flame till all the spices blends in Lima beans. Stir occasionally.

The spicy tasty butter bean curry (gujarati vaal nu shaak) is ready. Serve it hot along with chappati, roti, paratha or puran puri.