The Knobbly Plate

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legumes

Loubia North African Spicy Fragrant Stew

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Loubia is a traditional dish of fragrant white beans slow-cooked in tomato + North African spices. SO SIMPLE, SO FRAGRANT, SO COMFORTING. It’s also naturally plant-based, and is perfect mopped up with crusty bread.

Moroccan loubia is the kind of dish that feels humble and luxurious at the same time. Built around tender white beans, it’s a slow-simmered stew that fills the kitchen with warmth before it ever reaches the table. Olive oil, gently heated, releases the aroma of garlic and onion, followed by a bloom of spices—paprika for sweetness, cumin for earthiness, and chili for a quiet, lingering heat. Tomato sauce ties everything together, giving the stew its deep brick-red color and a balance of acidity and richness.

As it cooks, the beans soak up the flavors, turning soft and creamy while still holding their shape. The broth thickens naturally, becoming velvety and spoon-clinging, perfect for scooping with torn pieces of crusty bread. Fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro brighten the dish at the end, cutting through the richness and adding a green, fragrant lift. A drizzle of olive oil just before serving brings everything into focus.

Loubia is deeply comforting, but never boring. The spice is warming rather than aggressive, fragrant instead of overpowering. It’s the kind of stew meant to be eaten slowly, shared communally, with a bowl placed at the center of the table. Entirely vegan by tradition or adaptation, it shows how North African cooking transforms simple pantry ingredients into something soulful and satisfying. Loubia isn’t flashy—it’s honest food, rooted in home kitchens and everyday meals, offering nourishment, heat, and a sense of quiet abundance with every bite.

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Loubia Moroccan White Bean Stew
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan
Cuisine: North African
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 persons
 
Ingredients
  • 750g White Beans with their bean stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 large onions, grated
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 tbsp tomato purée
  • 4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 400g passata
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 20g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • 20g fresh coriander, leaves picked and finely chopped
  • Bread, to serve (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large stew pot or hob-safe tagine over a medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and sauté for 7 minutes to soften a little. Add the garlic and tomato purée, then cook for 5 minutes, until the purée turns a dark red colour, but is not burnt. Add half of each spice, then mix well and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  2. Add the passata, vegetable stock, the remaining spices and half each of the chopped parsley and coriander, then mix well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot or tagine with the lid and simmer for 20 minutes, until the flavours have thoroughly developed.
  3. Add the white beans, season to taste with salt and a pinch of sugar, then simmer, uncovered, for a further 8-10 minutes. Serve with bread to mop up the delicious juices.

 

Pumkin & Carlin Pea Spiced Dhal

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Carlin beans—also called Carlin peas, black peas, or parched peas—are small, dark brown maple peas traditionally eaten in northern England, especially Lancashire and Yorkshire. They have a nutty, earthy flavour and a firm texture. Historically, they were cooked and served with vinegar and pepper during “Carlin Sunday,” a regional Lenten tradition. Today, they’re enjoyed in stews, salads, and hearty side dishes, valued for being high-protein, inexpensive, and very filling.

A bowl of pumpkin and Carlin pea spiced dhal is like stepping into a warm glow after walking through icy dusk—an embrace of colour, scent, and slow-cooked comfort. The moment the spoon breaks its surface, steam curls upward in soft, fragrant ribbons, carrying with it the earthy sweetness of pumpkin and the deep, nut-brown aroma of Carlin peas. These humble peas, with their firm bite and woodsy character, anchor the dish like little embers scattered through a golden-orange sea. The dhal thickens around them, velvety and luminous, a tapestry woven from simmered pulses, softened pumpkin, and spices blooming in oil.

On a winter evening, the air outside feels sharp, almost metallic, but inside the kitchen there is warmth that pulses gently from stove to fingertips. Mustard seeds crackle in a pan like tiny sparks. Cumin unfurls its warm breath. Turmeric glows amber, and coriander whispers citrusy brightness. When the garlic sizzles and the ginger releases its rising heat, the spices mingle into a kind of edible perfume—one that fills the whole room, drifting into corners, clinging to wool scarves and sleeves.

The pumpkin softens into buttery chunks, some melting into the dhal to add body, others holding their shape like sweet lanterns. The Carlin peas resist just enough, giving each mouthful a rhythm—soft, then firm, then soft again. A swirl of coconut cream brings a mellow richness, while a final squeeze of lime brightens the shadows of spice. Fresh coriander leaves scatter across the top like green flecks of winter hope.

Eating it is a slow, warming ritual: hands around the bowl, heat radiating into palms; the first taste spreading warmth down to the chest; the spices blooming wider with every bite. Outside, the world may be frost-bitten and quiet, but this dish creates its own weather—an inner fire, steady and glowing, the kind that turns a cold night into something gentle, human, and deeply, deliciously alive.

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Pumkin &Carlin Pea Spiced Dhal
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegetarian
Cuisine: European
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
A simple winter warmer using everything that is in season in the winter months.
Ingredients
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 knob of ginger, grated
  • 750g pumpkin or squash, peeled and chopped into medium chunks
  • 1 jar of Queen Carlin Peas with their bean stock
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1½ tsp turmeric
  • 250g split red lentils
  • 1 x 400g can of full fat coconut milk
  • 700ml veg or chicken stock
  • The juice of ½ lime
  • TO SERVE
  • Greek yoghurt - Or vegan alternative
  • 1 small bunch of fresh coriander, leaves roughly chopped
  • Lime wedges
  • Nigella or sunflower seeds
  • Mango chutney (optional)
  • Naan or rice
Instructions
  1. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil over a medium heat and add the onions with a pinch of salt. Once the onions are slightly browned (roughly 7-8 minutes), add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  2. Add the cumin, curry powder and turmeric with the chunks of pumpkin and red lentils. Toss the lentils and pumpkin to coat in the spices.
  3. Add the jar of Queen Carlin Peas with their bean stock, the coconut milk and veg stock. Cover and simmer the dhal for 30-40 minutes, until it becomes thick and starchy and the pumpkin is soft, stirring every so often to stop the lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add water if it becomes too dry.
  4. Once the dhal is nearly cooked, squeeze in the lime juice and check for seasoning.
  5. Spoon the dhal into bowls. Top with a dollop of yoghurt, fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime. Add some mango chutney for sweetness too, if you like. Serve with rice or naan for something heartier.