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December 5, 2007

Spicy Black Eyed Beans



Have I been on a break? Not really. I just continue to be busy and I believe that the period from October to January should be declared the international blogging holiday season. Just as I recovered from the "5 weddings in 7 days" attack, I was back in the Himalayas. This time I did upstream canal tunnel crossing, rappelling from 100 feet and trekked 9 km alongside a river, crossing it about 33 times, to reach the ashram where Sita is believed to have spent time during her exile. I had a great time and am back in the NCR now for the next phase of weddings. And we have more guests starting today.


I had very little time in November and my blog witnessed another low in terms of the posts.
I missed several events. For some reason beyond my comprehension, I am unable to access most blogs on Blogger (including my own). I can reach blogger.com, but not blogspot.com. So, I can post, but I cannot view this.


I had never tried cooking these beans. I bought a packet some time ago and made sundal. When my cousin was visiting, she suggested that I could make this to go with rotis. I always thought that karamani or lobia always needed to be soaked overnight, quite like any dhaanya. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that it could be made without prior soaking. (And now I know why I had mushy sundal.)


In addition to the usual masalas, I added Pav Bhaji Masala to this dish. Ever since I bought the packet, I have made everything but Pav Bhaji using the contents. I hope to rectify this soon.


1 cup Dried Black Eyed Beans (Karamani/Chawli/Lobia)

2 Onions, finely chopped

2 Tomatoes, finely chopped

1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder

1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala

1 tbsp Oil

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a pressure pan and add the asafoetida. Add the onions and fry for a few minutes. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes along with the turmeric, chilli, pav bhaji masala and cumin-coriander powders and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the beans and the salt. Add about 2 cups of water. Cover and pressure cook for 3 whistles (10 minutes). When done, mash the beans a little to thicken the gravy. Serve with rotis.



I think this is a great entry for the
Grindless Gravies event that Sra is hosting. I hope as always to be regular, but there are times when I have no choice but to refrain from blogging (and that includes blog hopping). Au revoir!

19 comments:

Seema said...

Nice one Raaga.I too posted blackeyed bean recipe today.. check out! Used Channa masala :-)

Finla said...

I have a whole kilo black eye peas here i should try your recipe.
Don't have pav Bhaji masala so have to use some other masala

Pooja V said...

wow..nice one raaga..i love these beany dishes.

Sreelu said...

Raaga, treking in Himalayas girl you have a good adventures sprit, how was it, was it very serene and beautiful. Wish I could do that some time. post pics. I made the same dal few weeks ago on my blog.
I agree we do need a blog vacation from oct to dec. Have fun with the weddings.

Kribha said...

I make this too. I always love beany dishes. About the 'blogging holiday season'....I second that.

Namratha said...

5 weddings in a week??! Wowweeeeeee!! :-D And all that adventure, awesome Raaga! Love the spicy curry, looks great to me. And this is one of my fav legumes, since there is no soaking required.

bee said...

these are among my fav lentils love them wit goda masala. 5 weddings in 7 days? i would have gone into hiding.

remya said...

gud side dish for roti's....i'm gonns try this beans soon...

Suganya said...

5 wedding in 7 days..eeekk..

Indian Food Rocks said...

You lead a very exciting life! How long did it take you to reach the ashram? Was this a guided hike/tour? And pictures! Do you have pictures?

I am guilty of adding PB masala to all sorts of stuff, too! :D

Rajitha said...

looks delicious..it must have been fun trekking esp. when you attended 5 weddings!! that can get very tiresome :)..and not to mention the greasy food

Raks said...

I make kuzhambu with this...Got an idea for making a side dish for chappati ..:))

Anita said...

How do you squeeze so much through all the work and wedding?! Trekking, rapelling, crossing tunnels (what's that?)...and cooking and then blogging about it!

I end up overcooking my lobia occasionally despite no soak. They make a mean veggie burger y'know ;-).

Siri said...

Wow, that was one heck of busy life Raaga... with weddings and trekking Himalayas ..:) The dish looks delicious .. Great Entry

~ Siri

musical said...

Love lobia! Nupur once called them beauties with kohl :).

Goutham said...

Have you tried adding potato spuds to thicken gravy? We get it here. It is flaky stuff. Quite useful to thicken any sort of gravy. :-)

Raaga said...

Thanks all... I am able to view my blog now and will check if I can view yours too.

Goutham: I think that's what we get as aloo mash here :)

sra said...

Hi Raaga, thanks for the entry. I didn't know you didn't need to soak black-eyed peas!!! That bit of experimentation is next on my list!

Unknown said...

just blog-hopped from latha-amma/lakshmi's blog...
wow! loved this dish, Will make this for tonite with all the leftover karamani of navrathri.. :)