Sos Pwa Rouj (Haitian red beans and rice)

I served my mission in New Jersey from 2001-2003.  My favorite time of my mission was spent in my third area of Irvington, where many of the people I met and interacted with had recently emigrated from Haiti.  My companion and I ate some memorable meals with these wonderful people, but my very favorite was called Sos Pwa and the Haitians ate it all the time.  I asked a number of them how to make it but never got any clear recipe from any of them, although I understood that the basics of it was cooking the beans with some spices until they were soft, then pureeing a portion of them to create a sort of "gravy" or sauce which was added back to the whole beans and then poured over plates of white rice.  It might not look like much, and it is certainly simple food being just rice and beans but it is delicious.  On special occasions they would serve it with conch meat, but I prefer it with grilled shrimp.  Sos Pwa can be made with any type of bean, really - black, red, pink, or white - but red and pink were my favorites. 

Sos Pwa Rouj

2 cups dried red kidney beans (or pink beans)
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 red or green bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1 thyme sprig

Rinse beans then bring to a boil in a large pot with 8 cups of water.  There is no need to soak beans beforehand.  Turn down heat and simmer beans, covered, adding water as needed. 

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, then cook pepper, onion, cloves, shallot and tomato paste for about 5 minutes until onions soften.  Add to beans along with salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook for another 30 minutes to an hour, or until beans are tender. 

Drain and reserve the liquid from the beans.  You will need about 3 cups of liquid so if there is not enough left from cooking the beans then add some water.  Put 1/4 to 1/2 of the beans into a blender, along with the reserved liquid and blend until completely smooth to create a sort of sauce or "gravy" as my friends from Haiti called it.  Return the sauce and the remaining beans to the pot and stir to incorporate.  Serve over hot white rice.