Name: Green Beans with Caramelized Garlic and Raisins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 lb/500 gm green beans; 2-3 tablespoons cooking oil; 5-6 large cloves of garlic (peeled and minced/finely chopped); 3-4 dry red chilies (roughly broken); ¼ cup black or golden raisins; Salt to taste

Green Beans with Caramelized Garlic and Raisins is a delicious side of stir fried green beans with roasted or almost burnt garlic and caramelized raisins for a lovely sweet note in every bite!

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My take on the classic French dish “Green Beans Almondine” (with sautéed beans, almonds and garlic) gets a sweet twist with addition of raisins instead of almonds!

These long almost whole strands of beans are steamed (after removing the ends and cut into two or left whole) and then sautéed until slightly charred in a caramelized/almost burnt slices or crushed garlic tempering along with a dash of dried raisins.

A fun way to enjoy fresh green beans isn't it and a wonderful side to have with any meal!

GREEN BEANS WITH GARLIC AND RAISINS RECIPE:

This easy to make side dish is:

Healthy, vegan and gluten free
Garlicky and refreshing
Needs only 6 ingredients
Ready in a jiffy especially if the beans are fresh and tender
Totally a must try with any meal, be it Indian (with rice an dal) or any other cuisine you like.

YOU WILL NEED:

Fresh Green Beans – preferably tender and fiber less. Look for beans that have a vibrant green color and have a snap when broken. If super tender, you can skip the steaming part and proceed to sauté in the tempering. Leave it whole or trim the ends and halve.

Coconut oil –or any other cooking oil you prefer

Fresh Garlic – traditionally, we love to crush whole garlic cloves along with skin (the small ones) but you can feel free to peel and slice or chop instead too

Dry red chilies – the heat or spice element; you can roughly cut them up and use them or feel free to use some chili flakes instead too

Raisins – the best part of this dish of course are those caramelized raisins as they sauté and crisp up in the stir fry along with the garlic bits! You can use black, golden raisins or maybe cranberries too!

And of course salt to taste.

HOW TO MAKE GREEN BEANS WITH GARLIC AND RAISINS MY WAY:

Wash, drain and trim ends of green beans.

Either leave whole or snap into 2 halves.

If you would prefer to steam a bit (especially if the beans are not so tender that they cook right away), place in a steamer basket and steam for 5 minutes over simmering water and then remove and refresh in cold water to stop further steaming/cooking.

TO MAKE THE STIR FRY:

Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a wide saucepan and when hot, add the crushed or sliced garlic to the hot oil; maybe 6-8 garlic cloves.

Sauté on medium heat, stirring continuously until starting to turn brown.

Add the roughly cut dry red chilies (about 2-3 depending upon how hot you want it) and sauté for a few seconds; try not to burn the chilies.

Tip in the prepped green beans (steamed or raw).

Add salt to taste and mix well.

Sauté or fry on medium high heat for a couple of minutes.

Stir in raisins and cook again on medium high, stirring often until the beans are almost cooked yet crisp tender and beginning to char.

You will notice that the garlic would have further sautéed and turned a darker brown along with raisins being crisped up and caramelized! Yumm!

Remove from heat serve hot right away as a side with any meal.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Green beans stir fry tastes amazing with any meal and our favorite is with some rice, dal and maybe a salad on the side.

My favorite combo this time was a simple Konkani thali:

Hot steamed rice, Thori Sukkhe (whole pigeon peas in a Konkani style coconut masala) and Kali Thori Saaru Upkari (same pigeon peas pressure cooked and tempered with a garlic-dry red chilies).

Do try and make my version of this green beans stir fry flavored with caramelized garlic and juicy raisins in your kitchen and enjoy with family and friends.

If you do happen to make it, I would love to hear about it. Please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the box below (do not forget to give a rating) and/or share your version on Instagram (tagging me @curryandvanilla16) or even on my Facebook page.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Here are some more green beans recipes you can try:

Green Beans with Caramelized Garlic and Raisins

A delicious side of green beans stir fry with roasted or almost burnt garlic and caramelized raisins for a lovely sweet note in every bite!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Vanitha Bhat

Ingredients

1 lb/500 gm green beans
2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
5-6 large cloves of garlic peeled and minced/finely chopped
3-4 dry red chilies roughly broken
¼ cup black or golden raisins
Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a wide saucepan and when hot, add the crushed or sliced garlic to the hot oil; sauté on medium heat, stirring continuously until starting to turn brown.
Add the roughly cut dry red chilies and sauté for a few seconds and then tip in the green beans (steamed or raw).
Add salt to taste and mix well.
Sauté or fry on medium high heat for a couple of minutes.
Stir in raisins and cook again on medium to medium high, stirring often until the beans are almost cooked yet crisp tender and beginning to char.
You will notice that the garlic would have further sautéed and truned a darker brown along with raisins being crisped up and caramelized! Yumm!
Remove from heat serve hot right away as a side with any meal.
Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Recipe Notes

Make sure to use fresh and tender green beans.
Steaming is optional especially if the beans are fresh and tender.
Adjust the amount of garlic and chilies according to taste.
Instead of raisins, you can add dried cranberries or even peanut or almonds if preferred.