(If you’re new to cooking with dry beans, read up on everything you need to know about dry beans here.)
Serve this yummy curry dish with a flatbread like Naan or Chapati and you have a complete meal.
Ingredients:
2 C black eyed peas
2 Tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1-2 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 green chili, finely chopped
2 small tomatoes, finely chopped
2 C baby spinach leaves
3-4 stems of kale or collards

Dry Masala spices:
1 tsp red chilli powder (less if you want it less spicy)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Put the beans in a pressure cooker with 8 cups of water and bring to pressure. Cook 35 minutes.
While the beans are cooking, prepare your vegetables and massala. Mince the garlic, ginger and pepper. Wash and remove stems from the greens and chop. I like to shred the kale or collards as shown in this video but I like to leave the spinach leaves a little bigger, bite-sized pieces.
About 5-8 minutes before the beans finish cooking, begin cooking the other ingredients.
For the massala, measure and mix all the spices. Set aside.
In a medium pot, on medium heat, melt the ghee and add asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds. Let it roast for a minute or so. Add in the ginger, garlic, and pepper and sauté for another minute.
Add in the tomatoes, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in all the dry masala, and sauté for 2 minutes until it looks like a spicy paste.
Add in the spinach and kale, and sauté again another minute or two, till wilted.. Add in about a cup of the water from the cooked beans, and stir until everything is mixed and cooked. Add beans from the pressure cooker adn cook on medium heat for another 10-15 minute to allow the beans to absorb the spices. If needed, add more liquid to keep from scorching. It is too runny, cook until it thickens. Serve with a flat bread like naan or chapati.
Notes:
Like many Indian recipes this one uses a pressure cooker to cook the beans. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you have other options: soak and cook the beans till tender. Or you can use canned beans.
The key to good curry is to an even roast and slow release of the flavors in ghee. Don’t rush!
I like to shred the kale or collards as shown in the video below but I like to leave the spinach leaves a little bigger, bite-sized pieces.