Black Eyed peas curry (Chawli/Lobia Curry)

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Usually I make black eyed beans with onion tomato gravy base with Punjabi spices or with Maharashtrian ones. So when I came across this recipe on Lisa's site I was instantly interested in this recipe. The spices used in this curry are distinctly south Indian and the absence of onion in a curry such as this, seemed like a nice departure from the usual curries.

I tried this curry and was really glad I did. I followed Lisa's recipe for most part and just modified the proportions slightly and added red chilli powder to add a little more spice to the curry. This one made a delightful combination with both roti's and also when served with plain basmati rice or cumin/jeera rice.Try this when you are looking for a change from the usual types of curries or cooking for someone that is avoiding onions or garlic in their curry.

Before I move on to the recipe, one quick update, I just updated my picture on my apple pachadi/ apple chutney post. Just wanted to let my readers know so that they could have a quick peek at the new picture. This one, though not as good as I want it to be, still does far more justice to the dish than my previous one :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make curried black eyed peas

1 1/2 cups of dried black eyed peas (chawli/lobia/karamani) to be soaked overnight

1 heaped tsp of mustard seeds (sarson/rai/kadagu)

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste (namak/uppu)

3 small Thai or Indian variety green chillies cut fine (or according to taste)

1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder/jeeragam podi)

1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder)

1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi/manjal podi)

1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing/perungayam)

2 large tomatoes (tamatar/thakkali)(cut into small pieces)

7-8 curry leaves (kadi patha/ karvapillai ) broken into small pieces

1/2 tsp chilli powder (or according to taste) (optional)

handful of cilantro (coriander leaves/hara dhania/kothamalli) cut fine

Soak the black eyed peas in a large container overnight in sufficient water. Drain the water and rinse once.

Place the peas in a heavy bottomed pan in fresh water and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the peas are cooked. Skim off the froth from the surface when it initially forms. (or pressure cook the chawli with sufficient water until soft, this usually takes about 2 to 3 whistles in my pressure cooker)

Keep the cooked peas aside. Heat oil in the same pan, add the mustard seeds to it, when the mustard seeds start spluttering add green chillies to it.

When the green chillies turn a little whiter, add all the dry spices and the curry leaves. Stir a couple of times and add cut tomatoes to it and saute until the tomatoes become soft and mushy.

Add the cooked black eyed peas, salt to taste and cook for another ten or so minutes.Garnish with cilantro just before serving.

Serve hot with roti's, plain basmati rice or cumin/ jeera rice .

Serves about 4

Notes

I wanted my curry to have some gravy so I retained the water the peas were cooked in and added that to the curry to give me the consistency I was looking for, in case you like to have your curry drier you could drain the water after the peas are cooked, then add the peas to the curry.

These curried peas are off to the Bookmarked Recipes event being hosted by Ruth

This curry is also off to My Legume Love Affair, the seventh helping being hosted by Srivalli and originally started by Susan

This hearty and filling curry is also off to the Winter Treat Event being hosted by Trupti

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