What pops-up when thinking about favorite dish? Only one name appears in mind of Kerala natives: “Kadala Curry”. The chickpeas curry is their favorite and they are fond of its rich flavors. The Kadala Curry Recipe is an inseparable part of the Kerala Cuisine menu. It is the most loved traditional dish of that region which is also popular in many other places.
Kadala Curry
- Author: Karishma Shah
- Recipe Category: South Indian Curry
- Cuisine: Indian
Description: Prepare at home and end your crave for the wonderful restaurant style Kadala curry. Follow the directions, make, serve and get applauds of appreciation.
Kadala Curry Recipe Ingredients:
- Black Chick Peas – ¾ cup
- Black Pepper Powder – ¼ tsp.
- Chopped Tomatoes – ¾ cup (1 piece)
- Coconut Oil – 2 tbsp.
- Coriander Powder – 1 tsp.
- Curry Leaves – 10 leaves
- Chopped Ginger – ½ inch
- Cinnamon Stick – 1 inch
- Cloves – 3 to 4 pieces
- Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp.
- Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp.
- Grated Coconut – ½ cup
- Green Chilies – ½ cup (1 or 2 piece)
- Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp.
- Nutmeg Powder – 3 to 4 pinch
- Pearl Onions – ½ cup (1 piece)
- Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp.
- Strands of Mace – 3 strands
- Salt – as per taste
- Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp.
- Water – 6 ½ cups
Note: You can use Red chilies as whole instead of powder. The garlic paste is easy to make at home
Kadala Curry Recipe Steps:
Pre-Preparation:
Cook Chickpeas:
- Rinse the chickpeas properly. Wash 2-3 times under the fresh tap water to drain the dirt. Soak in a bowl of 2 cups of water overnight.
- Boil the 2 1/2 cups of water in the pressure cooked and add the black chickpeas. Transfer the water in which you soaked the chickpeas. Also, add a pinch of salt. Keep the measure of water to 3 cups.
- Stir the water in the cooker with the chickpeas and let it cook till 12 whistles. Remove the cover and check if they have become tender.
Coconut Paste:
- Take the ½ cup of grated coconut in a grinder along with 1/3 cup of water. Blend the ingredients at a medium pace to form a smooth paste.
- Transfer the paste from grinder to a small bowl and keep it aside.
Kerala Garam Masala:
- Take a small pan, and dry roast the fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, mace strands, nutmeg powder and cloves. Sauté the spices in the pan for the light roasting. Overdo of roasting will cause them to burn. Cook till they become aromatic.
- In a mortal pestle, transfer these spices from pan and grind to the powder form. Keep the spice powder in a small bowl for use.
Note: You can also cook chickpeas in pot. You may also use white chickpeas.
Preparation:
- Take a non-stick saucepan and heat the coconut oil over a medium flame till it becomes hot.
- When the oil starts to crackle, add mustards seeds and allow them to crackle.
- Add Onion and stir well till they become translucent. This may take 1 minute. Do not burn while you sauté onions.
- Add ginger and green chilies. Also, mix curry leaves and stir well till they are cooked and release the fragrance.
- When the onions have turned to light brown, add spice powders like red chili powder, coriander powder and the black pepper powder. Also, add the Garam masala powder that you ground.
- Stir the spice powders well to season the mixture evenly with their taste.
- Add tomatoes and cook till they are mushy.
- Add the grated coconut paste to this mixture for form smooth curry.
- Stir and sauté again till the ingredients accustom with each other. While you stir, keep adding the remaining water at regular increments. Season with salt and pepper to enhance the taste of the curry.
- Cover the pan and let the curry come to a boiling point. At this point, the curry will reduce so you may add water.
The flavorful Kadala Curry, having the blend of chickpeas with masala spices is ready to serve.
Note: Deseed green chilies to avoid their spiciness.
Additional Information:
- Calories: 455 calories
- Total Time: PT55M
- Serves: 4
- Date Published: 2016-08-19
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The dish is considered as the best breakfast companion in Kerala. The spicy and savory curry can also be served as lunch along with the hot chapattis. It’s the most comforting and common gravy with combination of coconut rice. You can pair it with any type of rice, biryani and pulao.
It blends various spices and condiments in the gravy. There is blend of various whole spices and spice powders in it. This dish. There can also be variation in it making, you can tweak it taste as per your taste buds. The flavors of various ingredients release lovely fragrance from the dish. The preparation is lengthy and seems difficult but the cooking style is easy.
The nice looking curry is also nutritious because of proteins in chickpeas. This savory beans have surplus vitamins, mineral and calcium. The dietary supplements in these beans are necessary for the bone health. The healthy black chickpeas tastes delicious both in dry and gravy form.
The Kadala curry recipe is tedious and time consuming. It needs various ingredients with black chickpeas. The vegan curry is super spicy and unfriendly for regular cooking. You may try occasionally.
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Remarks:
- The Kadala Curry Recipe takes lot of preparation time, approximately 8 hours or more due to overnight soaking. The cooking time is generally an half hour.
- To the make the curry less spicy, you can reduce the proportion of spice powders.
Garnishing:
Serve the hot Kadala Curry with Roti/ Paratha or Steamed Rice. You can even have it with fried Poori or Luchi made at home. It can also go along for breakfast with Dosa’s like Masala Dosa or any other. You may garnish the curry bowl with:
- Mint Leaves / Coriander Leaves
- Onion Rings / Salad
- Sliced Green or Red Chilies
- Drizzle White Cream
The other popular food from the menu of Kerala is Sāmbhar, coconut chutney, Kerala Paratha, Pumpkin Erissery and much more. Whereas the different types of Dosa, Steamed Idli, Fried Idli, Rasam, and Upma are the popular food items of the South Indian Cuisine.
Chickpea or the Chana are known for the various food snacks like Chana Dal Pakora, Chana Chaat, Chana Paratha, etc.