A simple yet invigorating green peas curry…

I love this green peas curry, it reminds me of my grand mom’s place in Mahim, Bombay. I remember eating it with kadak pav (this really hard crusty bread, that wonderfully soaks up a curry and you have to chew on it slowly to savour every molecule… ). I don’t know why but my mom rarely made it at home while we were growing up, so it always remained a Bombay delicacy until I grew up and learnt how to make it and now I make it quite often. And it really is a time saver, you don’t have to chop any onions or tomatoes… this dish is just gloriously easy and to borrow a phrase from KFC its finger licking good!

First soak your green peas for at least 6 to 8 hours in water. I am assuming you know which peas I am talking about here, those hard ones you get in department stores (not the frozen or the fresh ones). Then pressure cook (don’t use the same water you soaked the peas in, add clean water) it for 5 to 6 whistle spans. And you’ll get something like this… 

Here they are, the peas all cooked with their little delicate white skins floating on top…

Crush a few cloves of garlic now…

Heat a pan, add a little oil and drop in few cumin (jeera) seeds and the crushed garlic. Give it a slight mix…

 Then add some chillie powder and coriander powder.

Add the entire contents of the pressure cooker (the peas along with the water) and mix it up well. Add enough quantity of salt and with the spoon mash a few peas to the base of the vessel. Do this a few times, this will cause the curry to thicken and gain its desired consistency. Cover it with a lid and let it simmer for a few minutes till you get that Bombay smell (that’s how it is for me). You guys can simmer it for 5 minutes or so.

Voila! That’s it… you get some delicious warm curry and it tastes good with chapathi, dosa or plain bread (that’s what I have to make do with, since Kadak pav isn’t available where I live). This really is a little treasure of a dish, its easy to make when you know you are gonna be busy the whole day and you just want to cut down an all your chores. Just remember to soak it beforehand and half the job is done. So there, hope you try this out…

Thanks Grandma, and a big hug to all my cousins in Bombay :o)