"Spicy Dried White Peas (Safed Vatana)- Seemebadanekayi (Chow Chow) Masala Curry served with Mumbai Pav" ... This is one of my favorite curry that has been a part of our cuisine of almost three decades now and is best relished with pav/ roti/ chapati ... Yummilicious .......
** Here is a delicious recipe for all those who want to eat something spicy from routine dishes. This is one dish that is loved in my home to be relished with Mumbai Pav (bread shown in picture). The taste is best with pav, though you can have it with roti, dosa, parathas, naans etc. A little bit of gravy always remains after lunch, which I make a point to heat thoroughly and put it in the fridge to be relished with my crisp paper dosa (check pic. enclosed in recipe too) and it is a very good combo and a routine habit in my house with both dishes. This curry is prepared with dried white peas (safed vatana) though it tastes equally good with the black ones too. You can prepare this with the green ones too, however I prefer to relish this with either white or black sun dried peas.
** When I got married and settled in Mumbai, these were some of the dishes I first learnt to prepare as hubby loved them very much. I have improvised and prepared it over decades as it is one of our favorite dishes. Well, there is nothing more to write about it except that I have added on seemeadanedayi ie chow chow /chayote squash but if the same is not available to you, then you can add in potatoes, which is what I do. You must give this dish a try and relish it with Mumbai pav if available in your vicinity or you can have it with roti, parathas, dosas too. Do give me a feedback if possible as it helps me to improvise and share dishes in much more enthusiasm. Thanking each one of you for being a part of my Culinary Journey … Stay Blessed~ Spread Happiness.
** Here is my own recipe for "Spicy Dried White Peas (Safed Vatana)- Seemebadanekayi (Chow Chow) Masala Curry" … My Style …
** Ingredients :
Dried White Peas/Safed Vatana : 2 cups
Seemebadanekayi/Chow Chow/Chayote Squash : 1 large sized. (about 250 gms)
Coconut/Soyi/Nariyal : ½ cup
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 2-3 tblsp (or any other chilly powder)
Roasted Gram/Putani : 1.5 tblsp
Black Pepper Corns/Kali Miri/Mere’ : 1 tblsp
Cloves/Lavang/Lovng : 5-6
Cinnamon/Tike Sal/ Dalchini : 3 pieces of 2 inch sticks
Onion/Piyav/Kanda : 1 large sized.
Cardamom/Ellaichi/Yellu : 3
Coriander Seeds/Kothimbir/Dhania : 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds/Jeera : 1 tsp
Shaha Jeera : ½ tsp
Jaivitri : ½ tsp
Tamarind/Imly/ Chinchama : a small marble sized
Turmeric/ Haldi Powder : 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves/Dhania/Kothambari Pallo : handful finely chopped.
Ghee/Toop : 1 tblsp
Oil : 2 tblsp
** For Seasoning/Tempering :
Ghee/Oil : 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds/Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds/ Jeera : ½ tsp
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 8-10 fresh leaves.
** Wash and soak dried Vatana/ Peas overnight or for 6-8 hours in plenty of water (I soak only 4-5 hours). Now once again wash it well and put it in pressure cooker pan with water say to the level of peas itself and pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle. Immediately remove the pressure by lifting the valve with the help of tongs. Remove and keep this aside ready. (Check cooking tips given at the bottom of the recipe on Notes)
** Slice off the outer thick skin off the seemebadanekayi /chow chow as thinly as possible. Cut them into 1 inch sized cubes discarding the inner seed. Wash and keep it ready aside. Peel off the outer skin of the onion and chop them into pieces. Keep this separately ready aside.
** In a thick bottomed kadai/pan add in the oil and bring to a heat. When hot lower the heat and add in pepper corns, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander leaves, cumin seeds, shaha jeera and fry for a minute and then add in roasted gram and fry for another 2 minutes. Add in the chopped onion and fry till it turns in color slightly.
** Add in the haldi /turmeric powder and the chilly powder, mix well and finally add the freshly grated coconut and fry all till the coconut also turns lightly in colour. Remove and put this into a mixer grinder along with tamarind and grind to a very smooth paste with water. You can use the strained peas cooked water for grinding purpose also. Remove and keep this ready aside.
** In a thick bottomed kadai/pan add in the washed and kept seemebadanekayin pieces along with half a cup of water and cook on medium heat till 80% cooked. Now add in the cooked peas, ground masala and mix well adding sufficient water to bring to gravy consistency. The gravy is neither thick nor too thin for this curry.
** Bring the curry to a boil and then simmer for 8-10 minutes mixing often to prevent it sticking to the bottom. Add water if necessary as the curry thickens a lot when settling due to the addition of putani. Add salt to taste and mix well. Add in the ghee and the finely chopped coriander leaves and remove from fire and keep it aside.
** For Seasoning/Tempering : Heat ghee or oil in a small seasoning pan, I used ghee. When hot lower the heat and add in the mustard seeds when they begin to splutter add in the jeera, curry leaves and fry for a second and they pour it over the curry and keep it covered aside for the flavors to get seeped in for 30 minutes. Do check the consistency and add hot boiling water if needed before served if you find the gravy too thick.
** "Spicy Dried White Peas (Safed Vatana)- Seemebadanekayi (Chow Chow) Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. This curry tastes best with Mumbai Pav as shown in the picture, however you can relish with any other dishes of your choice too. It goes well with roti or parathas too. In my home I keep the gravy slightly on thinner side and we love to relish it with pav dunked in it, tastes wonderful. Do give this combo a try, if pav is not available you can try the dish with any bread/bun available in your vicinity.
** This is one of my best and foolproof recipes that is being loved by all in my family for over 3 decades now. So do give it a try and let me know if your family enjoyed the same by giving me a feedback. Your constant feedback and query makes me want to do that much more as being a foodie I love cooking and I am sure you too love relishing good home cooked food which is one of the best gift you can give to your growing children.
** Note : I have added seemebadanekayi to the curry which is actually difficult to get at my place, though this veggie is really a good combo to many curries and I make it a point to buy it in bulk whenever I come across it. If that is the same case with you, you can substitute the same with our good old potatoes too as they go well in this curry too and that is what I do other times.
** Cooking of Dried White Peas/Safed Vatana : Cooking of dried white peas can be a little bit tricky at times. That is what my experience is and as some of my friends confided too, that it turns mushy when cooked too soon and one needs to be very careful. Well, this has happened with me too during my initial attempts with these peas and now I have learnt a perfect way to cook them, though they may differ from how you do and if you are able to get them perfectly cooked in your own methods, please do so and do not try into venturing other methods.
** Dried White Peas I guess differs from place to place and in Mumbai I always find them unpredictable. I soak them for say 4-5 hours only and then put them in pressure cooker pan with only water in level with the peas. I pressure cook to only one whistle on medium heat after which I leave it for 3 mins and then immediately with the help of tongs release the pressure gently by lifting the pressure cooker valve till all pressure is released. Open the lid and check the peas, if just done you can leave it as it is ready aside.
** If you find that the white peas have been slightly overcooked immediately strain the peas with the help of a stainless steel sieve and rinse only the peas under running water, to cool it down, this helps in arresting further cooking of the peas. Do not discard the strained cooked water, you can use it while grinding the masala and to add in to the gravy later on, which is what I always do and I am sure you do too. Some cook the peas directly in a vessel with just enough water checking often to see if cooked, however I follow this method as it is not only easy and fast but also gives me perfect cooked peas.
** Note : You can also adjust and make variations in the quantity of whole garam masala added, as some people prefer more of it and some less. I have added on medium level as for 2 cups of peas. Do adjust accordingly depending upon your family preferences and taste.
** The above picture is of the only the "Gravy of Spicy Dried White Peas (Safed Vatana)- Seemebadanekayi (Chow Chow) Masala Curry" served with Crisp Paper Dosa (Mixed Dal Dosa) which is one of the favorite combo dish in our house. I prepare the dosa for next day breakfast whenever I prepare this curry to relish it with this particular dosa. I am sharing the link for the dosa below, you can go through the link if you desire to prepare this thin crisp dosa, it tastes awesome ...
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