Lobio (Georgian Beans)

TOTAL TIME1 hour 10 minutes (plus soaking)

Ingredients
2 cups dry red kidney beans
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 carrots, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
8 pitted prunes
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, plus 1 tablespoon
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation
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.
YIELD3 servings as a main dish .