Name: Cluster beans, also called guar beans, gavar or gawar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) — slender, ridged, green pods that grow in clusters, with a slightly bitter, earthy flavour. They are the same plant that gives guar gum.
Description
Guar is native to India and Pakistan, and is grown mainly in Rajasthan, where it is a hardy, drought-tolerant crop. The pods are eaten as a vegetable in Indian cooking, especially in the dry regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat, while the seeds are processed into guar gum, a thickener used in food and industry, and most of the world's guar comes from India.
The beans have a firm, slightly chewy texture and a slightly bitter taste, and are usually stir-fried with spices, or dried and fried, as in Rajasthani ker sangri. They are high in fibre.
Main nutrition value
Cluster beans are a good source of fibre, vitamin K, folate, iron and calcium, and are low in calories.
How best to be consumed
Cluster beans are cooked until tender, usually with spices.
- Trim the ends, cut into short lengths, and stir-fry with mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric and chilli.
- Cook with grated coconut or onion in the Gujarati style.
- Add to lentil dishes and mixed vegetable curries.
- Blanch first if you find them too bitter.
- Choose young, tender pods, and cook within a few days.
Overconsumption could cause…
Cluster beans are safe and healthy in food amounts when cooked.
- Digestive upset (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea) from raw or undercooked beans, which contain natural lectins that cooking destroys, so always cook beans thoroughly.
- Bloating and gas from the fermentable carbohydrates in beans and peas, particularly if you are not used to eating them.
- A bitter taste that some people dislike.
- Digestive discomfort, in rare cases, from a large amount of guar fibre.
Wikipedia — Guar, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guar
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