Black Eyed Beans Curry in peanut sauce

What is a well balanced meal? If you check that out, every source will tell you a mixture of protein, starch, vegetables and fruits and dairy. If you compare that to an Indian vegetarian meal, we eat wheat or rice which covers the starch part, dal or legumes which partly covers the protein (we cannot compare meat protein with any vegetarian dish), we do eat vegetables and fruits and yogurt covers the dairy. So, I would think it is pretty well balanced meal. But, how often does everyone eat legumes? Toor dal is not very rich in protein compared to whole lentils like whole moong, black chana, rajma etc. I am always trying to use at least one whole legume in every day meal. It could be rajma, chana, moong or like today, black eyed beans. I was planning to make simple dal tadka with it, but ended up creating something really yummy. Here goes the recipe..

Ingredients:

• Black Eyed beans - 1 cup soaked overnight and pressure cooked with a little salt till soft. (You could use canned)
  
• Red onions - 3 big chopped into chunks
• Long squash - 1 peeled and cut into chunks. (You can use zucchini or just tomatoes, or any kind of squash)
• Oil - 3 TBSP
• Red chillies - 2 broken
• Curry leaves - a few
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric - a big pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Chopped cilantro - a handful (optional)
  

To Grind: (Grind into fine paste with very less water)

• Peanuts - 1/4 cup (You can use more if you like peanuts)
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 - 1 tsp or to taste
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 2 pods
• Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)
  

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add broken red chillies, curry leaves. Now, add the onions, turmeric, a little bit of salt and saute till done about 5 minutes. Add the chopped squash, stir and cover with lid and let it cook. Now, add the cooked beans with part of the water that was used to cook it. Reserve rest of the water. Mix it well and pour the ground paste into the mixture. Let it boil till the raw smell of garlic subsides, about 8 - 10 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and the thickness of the dal. Add reserved water to make it thinner. Garnish with cilantro if using. Serve with rotis, parathas, or simply with rice.

I would like to send this entry to Susan's 'My Legume Affair'  hosted by EC.

Happy Cooking!! Pin It