Black-eyed beans indian curry

Black-eyed peas, also known as black-eyed beans, ChawaLie, Lobia or Mulatto-Gelato are an excellent source of calcium, folate and vitamin A. They are widely used in different cuisines throughout the world. I bought a packet of black-eyed peas in the Indian shop I often go for buying spices and some other stuffs like pasta(I got a craving for baked macaroni cheese, had to buy the elbow macaroni when I saw them!). That shop is quite far from where I live, but it’s totally worth going! I got a few Indian spices (like Chaat masala, which I used in this recipe), macaroni, sooji, filo pastry (FINALLY, I found some filo pastry!I couldn’t believe my luck!), and some FRESH italian herbs(no dried basilic for the pasta this week hehe!). Ok back to black-eyed peas! When I told my roommate I got black-eyed peas, she said “Isn’t that the I gotta a feeling group?”. LOL! I love black-eyed peas( both the group and the beans)! I made them into a spicy indian curry and even my roommate, who cries when she eats spicy foods, loved it…and asked for more. Give it a try!

In this recipe, I don’t boil the beans first. What I did was to pre-soak them for at least 8 hours, or overnight and then cooked them in the curry itself. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, then boil the beans first and then add them to the curry. I have a pressure cooker, so since I am lazy and always looking for quick and easy recipes, I just pre-soaked them and cooked them directly. On top, I dont’t have many pans to wash in the end because I cook everything in just the pressure cooker itself. Easy!

Check out other beans recipes here : Dal/beans recipes.

Black-eyed beans Indian curry recipe, Black-eyed peas Indian curry recipe

Ingredients:
250g black-eyed beans/black-eyed peas
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 green chillies, cut into slits
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
pinch of chaat masala or dhaniya/coriander powder(optional)
9-10 mint leaves, chopped (optional)
salt

Steps:
1. Pre-soak the beans overnight.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
3. When they splutter, add the bayleaves, chillies, chopped onions and fry until brown.
4. Lower the heat. Add the garlic, turmeric powder, garam masala and little water so that the spices don’t burn.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry until the oil separates. At this point, you will see a thin layer of oil on top.
6. Add the beans, add water to cover the beans and pressure-cook for 5-10 minutes(at least 3-5 whistles).
7. Uncover and add the chopped mint leaves and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how well cooked the beans are. Add water if required. If you find
there is too much water, then uncover and let boil until the amount of water has decreased.
8. Sprinkle some chaat masala or dhaniya powder(coriander powder). Serve!