Black Chickpeas, Cooked and Simmered in an Aromatic Roasted Coconut Gravy with Crunchy Coconut Bites – Varutharacha Kadala Curry / Roasted Coconut Chickpeas Curry …!
Kadala curry, a Malayalee’s Favorite! And among all the combinations with which it is served as the side, Puttum Kadalayum (പുട്ടും കടലയും) tops it hands down! Puttu (steamed rice cake), Kadala curry, and crushed papad, makes it an insanely delicious meal and is a common breakfast served everywhere; right from roadside eateries, households, all the way to being served as a delicacy in luxury hotels in Kerala.
I have a lot of memories of this dish to share with you all, as it is also one of my favourite recipes from my mom’s cookbook. Although Kadala curry is the better side dish with Puttu, ripe bananas are also savored as a side with puttu and since it’s much easier to prepare, my mom used to serve putu with banana frequently for breakfast during my school days, and I quickly got bored and started hating it. I guess not only at my home, this combo is a cheat meal for all Malayalee moms since it was the only relief amidst all the morning craziness; cooking breakfast & lunch, packing all the lunch boxes, getting the kids ready for school, husbands to work, and finally yourselves on time. But being a very quirky girl then, I rebelled by skipping breakfast if served puttu with banana, which made my mom upset. Knowing my love for kadala curry, she finally agreed to prepare it under the condition that I eat puttu with banana on alternate days. But honestly, now I do feel the pain she went through as I struggle here to just perfect the dish each time I cook it.
The perfection of this recipe lies in the roasted coconut paste. Grated coconut should be evenly roasted on a low flame until it turns evenly brown. This is a bit challenging as you need to hit the sweet spot where it is neither under nor over roasted or burnt, and this requires a hell-lotta patience. Once properly roasted, the spice powders are added and given an extra 3-4 minutes of cook time before setting aside to cool. The cooled mix is then grinded into a smooth paste, and if perfectly roasted you will start to see oil oozing out of the paste making it rich and creamy. Do not worry if you don’t see the oil, as the curry will still be delicious and the grinded coconut paste makes your gravy thick n luscious.
There are some pre-prep works behind this recipe as chickpeas require a longer cooking time. Soaking it overnight and pressure-cooking the next day helps in easing out the cooking process thereby saving time and resulting in a perfectly cooked dish.
This curry in addition to puttu (steamed rice cake), also makes a great combination with appam (hoppers), idiyappam (string hoppers), roti or rice.
Check out my other Kerala special breakfast side dish recipes :
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Black Chickpeas, Cooked and Simmered in an Aromatic Roasted Coconut Gravy with Crunchy Coconut Bites - Varutharacha Kadala Curry / Roasted Coconut Chickpeas Curry ...!
- 1½ cup grated coconut
- 3 small onions (sliced)
- 2 garlic pods (sliced)
- ½ inch sized ginger (sliced)
- 1 green chilly (slit)
- 3-4 black pepper corns
- 2-3 curry leaves
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp chili powder (add more if you like it hot)
- 1½ tsp coriander powder
- 1 cup dry black chickpeas / kadala / kala chana (washed & soaked overnight)
- 1 medium sized onion (sliced)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp coconut tidbits / Thengakothu
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Water (as required)
- Oil (as required)
- Salt (as required)
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Heat a pan and dry roast grated coconut along with small onions, ginger, garlic, green chilies, pepper corns and curry leaves on a low to medium flame until it starts turning lightly golden brown.
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When you start seeing a golden / light brown color, add the spices; chili, coriander and turmeric powder. Stir on a low flame for another 2-3 minutes until roasted well, be careful not to overdo nor turn dark brown. Turn off the flame and allow it to cool. If you are using whole spices, you need to roast them from the beginning along with the coconut at step 1.
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Once cooled, grind all the roasted ingredients into a smooth paste. While grinding, the roasted coconut will release its oil, indicating that you roasted it perfectly.
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Pressure cook the soaked chickpeas along with onions, salt and water (just enough to cover the chickpeafor 3 whistles. Allow it to rest until the pressure goes off. Keep aside.
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You can either make the rest of the curry in the pressure cooker itself or transfer cooked chickpeas along with water to a wide pan.
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To the pan, add the roasted coconut paste, stir and mix well. Add more water if you prefer your curry with more gravy. Allow the curry to boil.
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Meanwhile in a separate pan; dry roast fennel seeds for 2 minutes until its fragrant. Allow it cool and using a mortar and pestle, ground it into a fine powder.
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Once the curry starts boiling, add the ground fennel powder and garam masala.
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Onto the same pan used for roasting the fennel, heat some oil and add the coconut tidbits. When the coconut starts turning lightly brown, add mustard seeds. Allow it to splutter and then add curry leaves and dry red chilies.
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Add this tempering into the curry, mix, place the lid on the pan, and turn off the flame. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot with puttu (steamed rice cake), appam (hoppers), idiyappam (string hoppers), roti or any bread.
Coconut oil is recommended for all authentic Kerala recipes.