I’ve always associated this dish with restaurants. I dont have a single memory of having green peas curry/masala from home. I’m not sure why we never made it at home. But that doesnt stop me from having good memories of this dish. As a family (i’m referring to my family back home) we like to eat out. It was and still is an unwritten rule that if we go out, we need to eat/drink something or if that didnt happen we make sure to take some parcel at least.
It was the same during my recent trip also. When I got out of doctor’s room, after my wisdom tooth extraction, I saw a small greasy brown cover in appa’s hand. For a moment, I was wondering, what he could buy from a hospital? Because if it’s medicine, there shouldn’t be any grease on the cover. Since I’m an easy prey to curiosity, even before talking to my parents, I got hold of the cover and opened it. It had some ethakkappam and parippu vada :)
Btw, another thing that surprised me was that hospitals have a small kiosk these days. In a hospital food counter you naturally expect to have some healthy stuff right? But if you have a look at the the things they sell, you will get an answer why everybody is talking about alarming rate of life style diseases among Malayalees. Kiosks have hardly anything healthy. They mostly have ethakkappam, parippu vada (lentil fritters), uzhunnu vada (medu vada), vegetable cutlet, puffs etc! I’m not surprised, there is a good crowd in front of the kiosks all the time! I know.. I’ve no right to preach or judge but just sharing my observation ;)
Anyways, let’s come back to our green peas masala. Back home on Sundays, after the morning mass… you guessed it. The parcel was appam/idiyappam with peas curry/masala. It was something I used to look forward to, may be because, it was different from what we normally had. Also I like curries with thick gravy. Peas masala always had a thick gravy, so I used to soak the renda (frill) of the palappam with this masala. I like the crispy golden colured renda to be fully soaked with the gravy (ahhhh… I’m literally drooling now). I like it best when appam is soaked in the fish molly’s gravy!
I’ve tried to recreate the peas masala from my memory. It had a similar colour and texture and I guess taste is also somewhat similar. All in all, it pretty much looked and tasted like what I had in my memory. Hope you too will like it. Though it tastes best with appam or idiyappam, I like it with almost anything, be it chapathi, dosa, rice, pulao etc;
Here goes the pics and the recipe…
Soak the dried green peas overnight…
Pressure cook the soaked green peas till its done. Separate the cooked peas and the stock…
Heat oil in a deep pan and add chopped onions. Cook till it turns golden brown. Add chopped ginger and garlic and green chilli. Cook for a few more minutes…
Add masala powders and cook till the oil starts appearing…
Add a tbsp or two of stock to bring the masalas together and mix well. Remove it from fire and let it cool slightly…
Grind the masala to a smooth paste, by adding a little stock…
In the same pan, fry the ground masala for a min or two, add curry leaves, salt and chopped tomato…
Add the remaining stock to the masala and let it boil…
Add the cooked peas and mix well…
Add medium thick coconut milk and let it boil. Cover and cook for a few more minutes…
Adjust the consistency to suit your taste and garnish with chopped coriander leaves…
- Dried green peas – 1 cup
- Onion – 2 big, chopped
- Ginger & garlic – 2 tsp each, chopped
- Green chilli – 2-3, slit lengthwise
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
- Coriander powder – 2 tsp
- Fennel powder(perumjeerakam) – ½ – 1 tsp
- Tomato – 1 small or half of 1 med tomato, chopped
- Med thick coconut milk – 1½ – 2 cups
- Curry leaves
- Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, chopped
- Oil
- Salt
- Wash the dried green peas and soak them in water overnight. Drain the water and pressure cook them with 2 cups of water and salt. I cooked it for 6-7 whistles on high flame and keep it closed for 20 mins. Separate the cooked green peas and stock.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions and cook till it turns golden brown. Add chopped ginger and garlic and green chilli. Let it cook for 2-3 mins. Add all the masala powders. Stir well and cook till the oil starts appearing, 3-4 mins. Add a tbsp or two of stock, just to bring the masala together. Switch off the gas and let the masala cool slightly. Grind the masala to a smooth paste, add more stock, if required, for grinding.
- In the same pan (add more oil if required), cook the ground masala for a minute or two. Add curry leaves, salt and chopped tomato. Mix well. Add the remaining stock. Let it boil, add cooked green peas. Mix well. Add medium thick coconut milk, let it boil. Cover and cook for 5-7mins. Add chopped coriander leaves and remove from fire.
