Crispy Green Bean and Potato Sabzi
Updated May 29, 2024
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 main-dish or 4 side-dish servings
- 1tablespoon neutral oil or olive oil
- 1medium russet potato, diced into ½-inch pieces
- ½teaspoon coarse kosher salt (such as Morton)
- 8ounces green beans, trimmed and halved
- ½tablespoon ground coriander
- ½tablespoon ground cumin
- ¼teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1(½-inch) piece ginger, minced
- 1½tablespoons unsweetened almond butter
- Lime juice, to taste
- Chaat masala (optional), for garnish
- Rice or roti (optional), for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large (lidded) nonstick skillet over high heat, warm the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the potato and half the salt and let cook, undisturbed, until the cubes develop a golden-brown crust on the bottoms, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Lower the heat to medium, give the potatoes a toss and add the green beans, the remaining salt and ¼ cup of water. Cover and let cook for about 3 more minutes, until the beans are starting to soften but still a little crunchy, and the potatoes have a little firmness but can be pierced with a fork.
- Step 3
Add the coriander, cumin, pepper, garlic and ginger. Toss to coat the potatoes and green beans, then let cook until you can smell the strong fragrance of the spices, ginger and garlic, about another minute.
- Step 4
Turn the heat down to low, stir in the almond butter, and as it melts, toss it with the vegetables to coat. Cook the sabzi for another minute or two, just to let the almond butter dry out a little and form a crust on the vegetables.
- Step 5
Remove the pan from heat, and sprinkle the top with lime juice and a light dusting of chaat masala, if using. Serve by itself, or with rice or roti alongside.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Andrew
Lovely dish, even though I slightly undercooked the potatoes. Next time, I’d experiment with a different variety of potato. The nut butter brings it all together. Worked well with roti.
AmyQ
I always parboil potatoes before pan-cooking them so they’re not underdone. Just make sure you don’t boil the cut potatoes too long, they’ll absorb the water and then less absorb the lovely flavors in your sabzi. I cut them to the size I plan to serve them in & boil the water before adding them. For smaller cubes 5-7 minutes should be more than enough.
Tim
I usually hit spuds for 3-4 minutes in the microwave before frying. It doesn’t really soften them, but gets them hot so they have a head start before going into the skillet.
Juliet
I realize that the chaat masala is optional, and as I really don't have room for any more spices, is there some acceptable substitute? How would Garam Masala be?
LisaAnne
Sunflower seed butter is a good substitute for almond butter for those who can’t eat nuts.
Sita
In response to the person wanting to substitute something for the chaat masala—I would not sub graham masala alone. Instead a squeeze of lime. Or so tajin (chili-lime seasoning) Chaat masala has a mix of bright and sweet and savory. It really is delightful and worth trying someday. My favorite part is the dried mango powder—which should give you an idea of the flavor profile.
Mary Ellen Navas
Love the sound of this recipe and the comments, but all my non-stick cookware says NOT to use high heat. How about a seasoned cast iron pan?
Taarheel
Hmmm. I loved the flavor but the almond butter did not make a "tempura-like" coating on the beans. I suspect the timing of the steps of this dish is very critical -- and I probably got it wrong. My beans and potatoes both were overcooked and mushy. In the future I might cook the potatoes and beans separately, then finish them together with the almond butter. It seems to me that trying to get the potatoes and beans cooked correctly when cooked together is almost impossible.
Bob
Although I worried at every turn—was my pan nonstick enough? was I going to get the potatoes browned? was the heat too high? was my spice mixture too strong?—the dish turned out beautifully (even though I substituted peanut butter!). The potatoes were perfectly cooked, as were the green beans, and the spices were heavenly. (Don’t forget the lime.)
Susan Minnicks
I'm gonna try w/garbanzos instead of potatoes...
Tara
Wow...I'll never go back to how I made green beans before I tried this recipe! What an amazing flavor! And super easy too!
lmp
I did not want potatoes, so doubled the green beans and otherwise made as written (minus the water phase). Fast, delicious.
Sandra
I used two potatoes. Served with brown basmati rice. Excellent! I couldn’t find chaat masala, so I used garam masala plus lime juice. (I read that garam masala is a base for chaat masala plus a sour or citrus.)
Nelle
Made with just a few tweaks (due to family taste preferences). Left out coriander and cut cumin in half. Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. A keeper for sure!
Saagari C
This recipe was so tasty! I didn’t have almond butter so I subbed in tahini. It worked perfectly!
Molly
Great recipe! Quick, easy and very tasty. My gf (meat eater) was impressed with the flavor and ate a lot. I followed another commenter and used garam masala and tajin as a replacement for chaat masala. Worked very well!
Madeline
It's a shame that the crispiness of the potatoes disappears when the water gets poured into the pan. I think next time I try this, I might parboil the beans, as well as the potatoes. Works nicely cashew butter, by the way.
Mary
This recipe is ridiculous. Firstly, the potatoes need to be fully cooked after steaming them or else they’ll taste underdone by the end. Secondly, you throw in all your spices and the raw ginger and garlic about a minute or two from the end without any water or oil to bloom them in. To no one’s surprise, the spices tastes raw and untempered in every aspect alongside your rock hard potatoes. Priya is a perplexing recipe writer because half her stuff is great and the other half is awful.
Zane
Can anyone recommend a substitute for almond butter? I'm allergic :(
Tim
Great dish and recipe, loved the addition of almond butter. Potatoes took a little longer than expected but imagine that's down to the variety we used. Next time, I'll steam the potatoes on their own before the addition of the green beans.
Carol Peters
Instead of adding water with the beans, mix it with the almond butter before you add it to the pan, that way it will distribute better, otherwise it tends to clump.
Mael
Tried this with wing beans and squash,still tasted delicious too. This is a keeper.
Brianna
Used the sweet potatoes I had and threw in some spinach that was almost gone for. Just cut the pieces of potato smaller and fried for longer. Apparently we love potatoes and almond butter!
Jason
This is a great side dish for everyone. One suggestion I would make is to take the potatoes out once they are crisp. I found leaving them in while steaming the green beans immediately makes them a bit soggy.
Sally
Absolutely delicious. Parboiled the potatoes first, and so didn’t add the water with the beans. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly and it was fabulous! Didn’t need the rice or any extra carb. Perfect one dish meal!
KPov77
For people who don't know, chaat masala has dried mango powder in it. I am super allergic (life-threatening) to mangos and have found many others are allergic as well. Make sure your eaters are OK with mango.
Francesca
Substitute tofu for potatoes
Maggie
A cast iron skillet worked really well. The potatoes browned beautifully, the almond butter does form a nice crust, and you can get aggressive with a metal spatula.
Anju
I cooked the beans for a short time on high heat (inspired by Kenji’s wok technique) to retain texture. Potatoes and beans needed to be cooked separately to keep them crunchy. I was skeptical about the almond butter originally but used crunchy salted almond butter from Trader Joe’s, doubled the spices, doubled the ginger, left out garlic and used a healthy pinch of chat masala. Served with cooked quinoa. Surprisingly pleasant meal.
NanB
Delicious. Used what I had, which was yukon gold potatoes, peanut butter, tajin. Came out great
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