Lobia Masala Curry (A curry with black eyed beans)

I love beans and lentils in any way as they are delicious,healthy and nourishing!I love almost any beans – Kidney beans (rajma),fava beans,chickpeas or black eyed beans (chawli) as they are called.They are also called Lobia (another Hindi terminology) beans and are used in different areas in India for different recipes.In the North they are used for making this delicious curry,whereas the South uses them for making a tasty Coconut Milk based curry called Olan as well as on festive occasions,these boiled beans are coated with thick jaggery syrup and offered to God called Vella Payaru!(Payaru is the Tamil terminology for these beans).

I was added by eminent bloggers Vidya Narayan and Jolly Makkar to the Recipe Swap Challenge,where we are paired with another blogger and we select recipes from each other’s blogs and make them after which we take pics and publish the recipes giving due credit to the blogger in question as well as provide the original recipe link!

I was paid with the dynamic Paarul Mehta who blogs at Paarulz Kitchen.I was gong through her beautiful recipe collection when I saw a familiar link which made me drool!Paarul had posted the recipe for Lobia Masala Curry – something I loved and my husband was demanding since an eternity!I did not hesitate but noted the ingredients for this lovely,tasty curry which would be polished in minutes by those who had it.

I gave it as a lunchbox option after which I saw the tiffin carrier licked clean.I teamed it with rice,roti,paratha..each time this recipe was a hit!

Thanks Paarul for the recipe!I always owe you this one!

Here is the recipe Link from Paarulz Kitchen :

Lobia Masala Curry / Black Eyed Beans Curry

I have tweaked the recipe a little bit and ground fresh ginger,garlic and green chilli along with the Tomato Puree.I have also used Cinnamon Powder in place of whole Cinnamon as it mostly tends to get wasted.

Let us go to the recipe now!

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Makes : 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 cup lobia beans/chawli (black eyed beans)

1 medium Onion – finely chopped

1 ba leaf

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

1 small piece of cinnamon/1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (Dalchini)

1 tsp Cumin powder (jeera)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder (haldi)

1 tsp Garam Masala

1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori methi)

1 1/2 tbsp fresh Coriander Leaves – finely chopped

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

For Tomato puree :

2 medium fresh Tomatoes

1 tsp Ginger pieces

2 Garlic cloves

1 small Green Chilli – slit

Water to boil

METHOD

Prepare the beans :

Soak the beans in water for 4 – 5 hours.Discard the water and pour the beans into a pressure cooker.For one cup beans add 2 cups water and 1/2 tsp salt.Pressure cook for 2 whistles.Allow the cooker to release the pressure and take out the beans in a colander.Keep aside.

NOTE : Reserve the water after boiling the beans.It is extremely nutritious and great for soups or can even be given to babies above 5 months.

Prepare Tomato Puree :

Heat water in a pan and add Tomatoes.Boil on medium heat for 5 7 minutes and you will see the Tomatoes splitting their skin.Take off heat and cover with cold water.Peel off the skin and remove the hard stalk in the middle.Pulse to a fine puree in the blender. Add the Ginger,Garlic and Green Chilli and process again to a fine paste.Keep aside.

Prepare the curry :

Heat oil and add the bay leaf and cinnamon.Add onion and sauté till translucent.Then pour in the Tomato Puree with the Ginger,Garlic and Green Chilli and cook on medium heat till oil separates and floats on top.Now add all the masalas (except garam masala and kasoori methi which should be mixed last),1/2 tbsp Coriander Leaves and salt to taste.

Cooking the curry..

Check the salt here as we already salted the beans while pressure cooking.Mix well and add the boiled beans.Stir well to amalgamate,cover and cook for 4 – 5 minutes on the lowest heat till everything comes together.

Open the lid and add the garam masala and sprinkle kasoori methi.Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp coriander leaves as well.Cover with the lid again and leave for 10 minutes before serving!

Serve with roti,paratha or plain rice!