White peas in a spicy meat masala

White peas in a spicy meat masala

I wanted to cook white pea (the ones you use to make a Ragda with) but give it a distinctly non vegetarian flavour. I used some home made meat masala for this and any packed meat masala should work just as well. The non vegetarian flavours become a great motivator for some vegetarian food to be eaten. I thoroughly enjoyed making this dish which was simple and tasty. It’s very economical and easy on the pocket.

White peas – 100 grams
Onion – one, large
Tomato – one large
Potato – one large
Mustard seeds – one teaspoon
Meat masala – one and a half tablespoons
Ginger and garlic paste- one teaspoon
Curry leaves – two sprigs
Fresh coriander – a handful chopped
Oil as required
Salt to taste

Mise en place (preparation)
Soak the white peas overnight and in the morning change the water. Add one teaspoon of salt and the soaked peas into a pressure cooker and cook this for ten whistles. Chop onions and tomatoes finely and dice the potatoes thumbnail size.

Method
In a pot, heat oil and add the mustard only when the oil is hot. Allow the mustard to crackle before adding the onions and cook this till translucent. Now add the tomatoes and cook for a minute more before adding the garlic and ginger paste. This needs to be stirred in the pot for a minute. Drop the heat and add any ready made meat masala. Add four tablespoons of water and let this cook for a minute.

Add the potatoes and the cooked peas along with the stock of the peas. Make sure the stock is enough to cover the peas. You can always add more stock later. If you have added too much stock then when the potatoes are cooked just squish some cooked potatoes and it will thicken the mixture. Do this in the pot with the back of a spoon.

Allow the ingredients to continue cooking in the pot for ten to fifteen minutes on low heat stirring occasionally. You don’t want any thing to burn at the bottom. You also want the ingredients to marry well. Be careful with salt as the stock you are adding already has salt.

Now add the coriander and the curry leaves and cover the dish with a lid and turn off the gas. I recommend that you leave the dish standing for an hour before you reheat and serve. The flavours after an hour are just awesome

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