I find that cooking a large amount of beans is usually easier than cooking a small amount. It might just be my imagination, but I think the beans soften quicker. They also have less tendency to boil dry. Whether this is really so, or not, one thing that is clear is you will end up with a huge pot of beans which will do several meals. After the first bean-feast, I usually freeze about half of what's left and put the rest in the fridge.
Soak the beans, preferably overnight, but at least for 4 or 5 hours. Rinse the soaked beans and put them in a large pot with fresh water to cover the beans by about 6 cm. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat a little so that the beans are still boiling fairly vigorously. Skim off the froth that appears and discard it. After ten minutes turn the heat down low and partially cover the pot.
Chop all the vegetables roughly and crush the whole spices. Start by frying
the onions with the cumin, coriander, black pepper and chillies, until the onions
start to turn golden, then add the carrot, red pepper, garlic and paprika. Cover
the frying pan and cook for about 10 minutes before adding the tomatoes. Cook
for a further five minutes or so, then add the contents of the frying pan to
the simmering beans. Add boiling water to the pot as necessary and continue
simmering until the beans are soft. Add salt just before the end of cooking
time.
Serve with steamed rice.