Vegan Azuki Bean Coconut Rice dish from the Caribbean

In the Caribbean you will find lots of bean and rice dishes. It is a nutritious meal with lots of protein from the beans and it is cheap in its basic way.

Cheap is not something that comes into my mind when I see the receipt for the ingredients. First of all the Azuki beans are not common here in Germany and you can get them either in Health Food stores or online. I wanted to make Japanese sweets filled with Anko - red bean paste- , so I ordered the beans online.
They need 12 hours to soak, so you have to plan ahead. They cook for 90 minutes until soft.
I divided the cooked beans and added a pinch of salt and lots of sugar to one part, that made the ANKO.

The other half just cooled down for further use. And now it is time to use it.

recipe for 2:
100 g Basmati rice
200 g coconut cream
150 ml veg stock
salt
150 g cooked Azuki beans
1 small sweet potato
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
5 cm fresh ginger
1 tsp dried chili
1/2 bunch coriander
50 g unsalted cashews
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 1/2 limes
salt and pepper

In a dry pan roast the cashews and set aside.
Chop onion, garlic and ginger and start the rice in coconut cream and veg stock and cook until done. Season with salt.
Bring the coconut oil up to heat and get the cubed sweet potatoes in and cook for 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until soft, add a bit of water to steam it a bit. Season with chili flakes.

Get the beans in to warm up again.
When the rice is done, mix everything together and pour the juice of one lime over and mix half of the coriander in.
Garnish with slices of lime, cashews and coriander.

It is an awesome vegan dish but you can serve it as a side to grilled meat or fish.