Kacang Pagar

Phaseolus lunatus (also kara in Javanese). These are Lima beans or (in some varieties at any rate) butter beans—the flat, white kind. ‘Pagar’ means a fence or hedge, and these beans often are grown in the hedges around village gardens. The beans need to be shelled and then well-boiled to get rid of any toxic acid that they may contain, although you would have to eat an awful lot of beans to suffer any ill-effects. We often make them part of a meat-and-vegetable stew, which cooks them very thoroughly. In my experience, however, eating too many kacang pagar can give you a headache—exactly the same dire consequence that Burkill threatens peanut-eaters with.