Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Curried Lobhia - The black eyed beans in Indian style

Sailu had once asked me if I had tried sprouting black eyed beans. I hadnt tried it then, but I was intrigued by her question. Any kind of dried beans, which can be used as seeds, should be able to sprout, but would it taste good? would it be bitter? I wondered and wondered and then decided to try it anyway. The wastebasket isn't very far from the sink, is it? ;)

Yes, It sprouted after soaking for 10 hrs and using this rinse & drain method for about another 8 hrs. And yes, It was delicious and didn't make the original recipe taste any different. Sprouts are a nutrition power house and that fact helped us relish the dinner even more.

The first time I had this dish, I was amazed. Jayshree, a Punjabi friend and colleague had got this for lunch; But we ended up eating out that day. When we returned back, She said her mother had specially made 'Lobhia and Rotis' for lunch and she was wasting it. Ofcourse, we offered to polish it off for her and boy! we did with the 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs' the simply deliciously dish deserved. Only later did I come to know that it was ridiculously simple to make. Punjabis refer to this beans as Lobhia, whereas Maharastrians and many others call it 'Chowli'. I don't know what it is called in other regions, would love to know. Oh, btw, Black eyed beans are traditionally eaten on New year's day/eve in US for bringing good luck.
Black eyed Beans - 1 cup (soaked for 8 hrs or sprouted)
Onion - 2, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2, finely chopped
Cummin seeds - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Heat oil in the pressure cooker and add the cummin seeds. When the cummin seeds are roasted in the oil, add the onions and saute it until the onions turn slightly brown. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle a pinch of salt. Saute for 2-3 mins.

Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and stir once. Add the soaked black eyed beans and add about 2-3 cups of water (You can more water too, it will evaporate when simmering, later). Pressure cook for about 4 whistles. When it cools down, open the cooker and add the remaining salt. Stir once and then turn on the stove to a low heat and simmer for about 10-15 mins and Serve piping hot. This goes very well with Rice or Roti.

(Apologies for no pics.. We polished it off, before I remembered to click a picture. Will add it when we make it next time!)

Note: You can add ginger-garlic paste too, but it will make the dish hot and spicy. The above dish is very mild and soft like a dal, but the blackbeans retain the shape (unlike dal).

14 comments:

lulu said...

great recipe, kay. i love black eyed beans but didn't really have a good recipe until now.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recipe...I always did a normal..chole/rajma style curry with Black eyed beans...will try this one soon.

Luv2cook said...

WOW...one more recipe to try...I do love all kinds of beans so I am definitely going to try this :)

Luv2cook said...

Hey Kay:

One question - what was the size of the onions you used? Roughly how many cups of chopped onion? It would help me immensely as I can compare that to the amount of beans..

Thanks,

Menu Today said...

Hi Kay,
I posted the reply for your meduvada question. Normal method i follow to make black eyed beans, i will try your method and let u know in weeks time..

Kitchenmate said...

Kay: Going to try this next time i go for the BE beans. I always make a curry, now got a now one more to try:)
I tried you chicken briyani and it turned out great, i blogged about it today:)
P.S. bear with the pics though***sigh***!!!

lost in thoughts said...

Hi, Thanks for linking my blog. Will put ur link on my blog too.

Kay said...

Thanks Lulu, Priya, Lu2cook, Menutoday and KM! :)

Luv2cook: I used 2 small sized onions. If the onions were huge, I'd use only one. Let's say the amount of onion should approximately be - one cup (abt 8 oz) 1 cup of blackbeans when soaked, can serve 3-4 ppl easily.

Thanks menutoday, I'm off to reading your journal to see the reply.

Kay said...

Km, I'm glad the biryani worked out for you! :)

KA said...

Lobia dal is one of my favorite recipes too. Recipe I tried involved adding a little grated coconut to the dal minus the tomatoes. Did you ever try making vada with these beans?

Ashwini said...

I love chawli. Your recipe is so simple I am going to try it!

Kay said...

Thanks Ashwini and KA!

KA, I am not very good with the art of vada making. My vadas taste great but end up like bondas.. I just learnt from Menutoday some tricks, let's hope they work for me! I've seen vadas made from this BEB at Mahanandi, they look divine though.

sailu said...

Kay,vadas with black eye beans taste great.Do try it out.Successful sprouting there,Kay!..:)

Kay said...

Thanks Sailu, will try it out, sometime soon!