Puttu+Kadala Curry= Irresistible!
There are certain foods in Kerala that have unbeatable taste. For instance: fish curries, spicy mutton chops, kadala curry or Chickpeas curry, Kappa…well, I do have a long list. For Keralites, puttu (steamed rice balls) tastes best when it’s served along with kadala curry and this has been one of the famous breakfast dishes. I’m not a huge fan of puttu, but when it’s served with kadala curry I can hardly resist it.
In my attempt to try different cuisines in my kitchen, I don’t often make the same kinds of Kerala food over and over. However, after a few days or weeks of trying different cuisines, I will be hit by the intense craving for the food that I had while growing up. Without a doubt, Kerala food is my comfort food and when I cook my mom’s or grandmom’s speciality dishes I feel an eternal joy. Lately, I had been getting constant cravings for Puttu and Kadala curry. When I get the craving I have only one choice, succumb to it!
Last night, I made kadala curry or chickpeas curry in a different way. Usually, I just cook the chickpeas and onions combined with all the spice powders in a pressure cooker and would finish it off with coconut milk. But this time, I added roasted coconut paste to the chickpeas and cooked it. The addition of roasted coconut paste made this chickpea curry very flavorful and aromatic. I highly prefer curries made with roasted coconut, especially fish curries. I also made puttu using red rice flour which I had bought from the Indian store.
The taste of this curry will linger in your mouth for a long time…
Chickpeas Curry or Kadala Curry
Ingredients
For roasting coconut
- Coconut Oil- 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Dry red chili, whole- 3
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Coconut, grated- 1 1/2 cups
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig (optional)
- Water- 3/4 cup
For making curry
- Coconut oil- 1 tbsp
- Onion, chopped- 2
- Potatoes, diced- 3 medium
- Chickpeas or Kadala, white or brown, cooked canned- 2 cups
- Chili powder- 1 tsp, (I used Kashmiri red chili powder)
- Salt- 1 1/2 tsp
- Water- 1 1/2 cups
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 tbsp
Instruction
Roasting coconut
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil, let the oil turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds and let splutter.
- Add dried red chilies.
- Add coconut, curry leaves if using, and roast till the coconut turns golden brown in color.
- Add coriander powder, combine well.
- After the coconut has roasted well, remove the pan from the heat. Let cool down.
- Transfer to a blender jar along with water and grind to a smooth consistency, keep it aside.
Making the curry
- I’ve used cooked canned chickpeas (rinse the chickpeas before cooking).
- If you are using uncooked chickpeas, soak them in water for 4 hours and pressure cook till they turn soft.
- I’ve used a pressure cooker to cook the curry. If you don’t have one, use a large non-stick pan.
- Place the pressure cooker over medium heat, add coconut oil.
- Add chopped onions, season with 1 tsp salt, saute for a few minutes.
- Add potatoes, chickpeas, and ground coconut paste.
- Add Kashmiri chili powder, combine well. Kashmiri red chili powder gives a vibrant red color to the curry and is mild. For more heat add regular chili powder.
- Add water to thin down the gravy.
- Add salt and close the pressure cooker.
- Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove the pressure cooker from the heat.
- After the pressure has subsided, open the cooker and add cilantro.
- Taste and add more salt or chili powder if needed.
- Serve hot with puttu, chapati, appam etc
- Here is the recipe for making puttu, you could use red rice flour or white rice flour.
Tips:
- You could skip the potatoes.
- Since I’ve added cooked chickpeas, I didn’t cook it in the pressure cooker for too long, just wanted the potatoes to turn soft.
- If cooking in a saucepan, after combining all the ingredients cover the pan with its lid and cook till potatoes & chickpeas turn soft.
- Coconut Oil- 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Dried red chilies, whole- 3
- Coconut, grated- 1½ cups
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig (optional)
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Water- ¾ cup
- Coconut oil- 1 tbsp
- Onion, chopped- 2
- Potatoes, diced- 3, medium-sized
- Chickpeas or Kadala, white or brown, cooked canned- 2 cups or 540 ml
- Kashmiri chili powder- 1 tsp
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Water- 1½ cups
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 tbsp
- Place a non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil, let the oil turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds, let splutter.
- Add dried red chilies.
- Add coconut, curry leaves if using, and roast till the coconut turns golden brown in color.
- Add coriander powder, combine well.
- After the coconut has roasted well, remove the pan from the heat, let cool down.
- Transfer to a blender jar along with water, grind to a smooth consistency, keep it aside.
- I've used cooked canned chickpeas (rinse the chickpeas before cooking).
- If you are using uncooked chickpeas, soak them in water for 4 hours and pressure cook till they turn soft.
- I've used a pressure cooker to cook the curry. If you don't have one, use a large non-stick pan.
- Place the pressure cooker over medium heat, add coconut oil.
- Add chopped onions, season with 1 tsp salt, saute for a few minutes.
- Add potatoes, chickpeas, and ground coconut paste.
- Add Kashmiri chili powder, combine well. Kashmiri red chili powder gives a vibrant red color to the curry and is mild. For more heat, add regular chili powder.
- Add 1½ cups water to thin down the gravy.
- Add salt and close the pressure cooker.
- Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove the cooker from the heat.
- After the pressure has subsided, open the cooker and add cilantro.
- Taste and add more salt or chili powder if needed.
- Serve hot with puttu, chapati, appam etc
- Here is the recipe for making puttu, you could use red rice flour or white rice flour.
•Since I've added cooked chickpeas, I didn't cook it in the cooker for too long, just wanted the potatoes to turn tender.
•If cooking the curry in a saucepan, after combining all the ingredients cover the pan with its lid and cook till potatoes & chickpeas turn soft.
