Vivat! Vivat Sultana! (with curried beans)

May always feels like a short month to me, with the two Bank Holidays at the start and end giving us a couple of 4-day working weeks. This year it's been made to feel even shorter, with the extra Bank Holiday thrown in on account of the King's Coronation. It was a little unnecessary really, given that all the pomp and ceremony took place on a Saturday, but a third short week of work is not to be sniffed at - so thanks very much Charlie, much appreciated.

The only slight downside to Bank Holidays is that quite a lot of shops either aren't open, or are on reduced hours. No big deal, but it's easy to forget that when you're enjoying a day off - just as I did on the evening of the extra Bank Holiday for the Coronation. Returning home later than expected after an afternoon pub session, I found myself in the terrible situation of a) being quite hungry, b) having nothing very substantial in the fridge, and c) the shops being shut by then. I suppose I could have gone back out for dinner, or ordered a takeaway, but that always feels a bit of a cop out, and I thought I should at least try to throw something together at home. It was on inspecting the various leftovers in Tupperware pots in the fridge, and discovering that I had about half a tin of cheap Tesco baked beans, and just under half a tin of a possibly even cheaper Tesco chicken curry (from their value range), that I realised I had the basis for a meal fit for a king.

The curry had only had about three chunks of chicken in it to start with, all of which I'd eaten when I had the first half of the tin (more on that another time). What remained therefore was really just a vegetable curry, which I mixed with the beans and heated in the microwave.

A dollop of yoghurt, some mango chutney and a handful of sultanas were stirred in.

This was all then piled on to a piece of toast, and crowned with some flaked almonds, and a bit of coriander that had seen better days. And lo, Coronation Beans on Toast was born.

Essentially it was all the flavours of the classic Coronation Chicken, but with beans instead of chicken. A sort of fruity, creamy vegetarian curry, really. The sauces from the beans and the curry actually worked very well together, with the slightly bland curry getting a boost of flavour, and the rich but somewhat over-sugary tomato sauce being toned down a bit. As I was serving the mixture hot, I decided against adding the mayonnaise used in the original Coronation chicken recipe; that would have unpleasant at best. Yoghurt instead provided just the right amount of creaminess to the occasion, and its slight lactic tang nicely offset the sweetness of the mango chutney and sultanas. 

You might think it's a bit weird having sultanas mixed in with your beans - but in fact Heinz used to sell a curried version of their classic with sultanas in it, now long discontinued. I think the combination works quite well though - they should bring it back.

I liked the 'click' of the flaked almonds between your teeth as you bit into them, providing a nice contrast of texture. You could ditch the coriander (or switch for another herb) if you find it soapy-tasting.

So - there you have it - Coronation Beans on Toast. Very similar to the traditional, but with a contemporary twist. Is it pushing the analogy to say that was a little like the Coronation ceremony itself? Yes, probably. But it hit the spot at the time, used up some leftovers and saved me the cost of a takeaway, so I dined like a prince at pauper-friendly prices.