Kerala Green Peas Curry-Thattukada Style
If my memory serves right, I do not remember my late mom preparing green peas curry for us as kids or as grown ups...this could probably be because we may not have been fond of peas.
My memory of green peas curry dates back to the eighties when as a college student, I have heard many of the boys who stayed in the hostel of the college that I studied in talk about this. "Oh we had this again for breakfast, then again for dinner."
Of course I am talking about the Kerala style of preparation. Some of my girlfriends also mentioned that these were available in the small thatched roof shops that grew like mushrooms in and around colleges as these thattukadas were comparatively cheaper and one could get a good fill and refill. It also catered to the many youngsters who didn't enjoy their hostel food and would come to these thattukadas to get their quota of a proper meal for the day!
I didn't have the guts those days to explore those thattukadas, but I would feel so gluttony just at the thought of those side dishes along with those chapathis. Perhaps society didn't permit us young ladies back then to go and sit with the men folk in those shops. But these days, in my mid forties, I try to bull doze my way to savour anything that brings back some amount of nostalgia and also help me click pictures.
As time flew and I did grow older and when I moved in with the husband to my in-laws' place, I would very often see my father-in-law bring in dry green peas. Until then I had never seen a dry version of green peas. I was stunned!
As he had shifted loyalties from being a hard core non vegetarian to a vegetarian, he would ensure he got his proteins through this. I did have a couple of peas curry dishes at their home...I couldn't call it the authentic version as my mother-in-law doesn't have much patience to add in juliennes of ginger or crushed garlic to many of her dishes and very often the fact that they were missing could be easily felt on the palate.
I tried to recreate the Kerala peas curry here almost like the Thattukada style and it tasted so damn good!
The crucial and most elaborate work would only be the extraction of coconut milk. Grated coconut was blended in with adequate water and then pushed through a sieve to get the first milk. That milk is set aside for later and for the grand finale. Once again the already blended in and almost beaten out of its milk grated coconut is once again placed in the blender and the method above is followed to extract the second milk. That milk goes into the curry in the initial stage.
So let's get into the procedure right away:- In a sauce pan, add in a tbsp. of coconut oil, it is better to add this oil to enjoy a typical Kerala style curry...but for any health reasons please feel free to use what the family regularly has. When the oil is hot, add in a tbsp. of mustard, as it crackles add in a bayleaf, an elaichi/cardamom or two, a star anise, broken cinnamon, a clove or two, ginger juliennes, crushed garlic (optional, I have used), finely chopped green chillies or slit chillies and toss them about, then slide in the onion slices and saute the gang until the onion is translucent. At this point add in a tsp. of turmeric, a tbsp. or more of coriander powder, a tbsp. of chilly powder and let them all merge well. It sort of becomes a nice dry masala.
If you are using the dry version of the green peas, ensure that you soak it a couple of hours before cooking it in a pressure cooker or even soak it overnight. I have used frozen peas. Add less than a quarter kilo of frozen peas to this onion mix and let them shake hands in the pan. Throw in roughly chopped three medium sized tomatoes as well and close it with a lid and let them get mushy.
Once they get a bit mushy, add the second extracted coconut milk and adequate salt. Let the lid be placed back on. As this bubbles away, add in a tbsp or less of garam masala powder/whole spice powder, you may also pound a few peas with the back of your ladle so that a few remain whole and a few seem crushed. After ten minutes into the cooking process, add in the first extract of the coconut milk(the grand finale)
The curry by now starts to thicken. The tomatoes give it a tangy taste and the coconut milk helps in the thickening process. Do garnish with a few curry leaves. I ran out of fresh curry leaves :( hence didn't add! That is indeed a huge shame for a malayali. The bay leaf can be extracted before serving!
I added a tsp of coconut oil over the dish as well in the end.
This is best to be had with rotis, chapathis or idiyappams.
My memory of green peas curry dates back to the eighties when as a college student, I have heard many of the boys who stayed in the hostel of the college that I studied in talk about this. "Oh we had this again for breakfast, then again for dinner."
Of course I am talking about the Kerala style of preparation. Some of my girlfriends also mentioned that these were available in the small thatched roof shops that grew like mushrooms in and around colleges as these thattukadas were comparatively cheaper and one could get a good fill and refill. It also catered to the many youngsters who didn't enjoy their hostel food and would come to these thattukadas to get their quota of a proper meal for the day!
I didn't have the guts those days to explore those thattukadas, but I would feel so gluttony just at the thought of those side dishes along with those chapathis. Perhaps society didn't permit us young ladies back then to go and sit with the men folk in those shops. But these days, in my mid forties, I try to bull doze my way to savour anything that brings back some amount of nostalgia and also help me click pictures.
As he had shifted loyalties from being a hard core non vegetarian to a vegetarian, he would ensure he got his proteins through this. I did have a couple of peas curry dishes at their home...I couldn't call it the authentic version as my mother-in-law doesn't have much patience to add in juliennes of ginger or crushed garlic to many of her dishes and very often the fact that they were missing could be easily felt on the palate.
I tried to recreate the Kerala peas curry here almost like the Thattukada style and it tasted so damn good!
The crucial and most elaborate work would only be the extraction of coconut milk. Grated coconut was blended in with adequate water and then pushed through a sieve to get the first milk. That milk is set aside for later and for the grand finale. Once again the already blended in and almost beaten out of its milk grated coconut is once again placed in the blender and the method above is followed to extract the second milk. That milk goes into the curry in the initial stage.
So let's get into the procedure right away:- In a sauce pan, add in a tbsp. of coconut oil, it is better to add this oil to enjoy a typical Kerala style curry...but for any health reasons please feel free to use what the family regularly has. When the oil is hot, add in a tbsp. of mustard, as it crackles add in a bayleaf, an elaichi/cardamom or two, a star anise, broken cinnamon, a clove or two, ginger juliennes, crushed garlic (optional, I have used), finely chopped green chillies or slit chillies and toss them about, then slide in the onion slices and saute the gang until the onion is translucent. At this point add in a tsp. of turmeric, a tbsp. or more of coriander powder, a tbsp. of chilly powder and let them all merge well. It sort of becomes a nice dry masala.
If you are using the dry version of the green peas, ensure that you soak it a couple of hours before cooking it in a pressure cooker or even soak it overnight. I have used frozen peas. Add less than a quarter kilo of frozen peas to this onion mix and let them shake hands in the pan. Throw in roughly chopped three medium sized tomatoes as well and close it with a lid and let them get mushy.
The curry by now starts to thicken. The tomatoes give it a tangy taste and the coconut milk helps in the thickening process. Do garnish with a few curry leaves. I ran out of fresh curry leaves :( hence didn't add! That is indeed a huge shame for a malayali. The bay leaf can be extracted before serving!
I added a tsp of coconut oil over the dish as well in the end.
This is best to be had with rotis, chapathis or idiyappams.
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