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Lobia curry is a healthy and quick curry recipe. This is an easy everyday curry made with black-eyed peas. Delicious as well. This curry is vegan and gluten-free.

Black-eyed peas or Lobia Curry
Lobia has many names in fact. This is also called as black-eyed peas or cowpeas or black-eyed beans or chawli in Hindi is a very popular bean worldwide.
Though this is named “peas”, it’s a bean and belongs to the legumes family. It contains almost all essential vitamins and minerals. Hence it’s one of the superfoods with numerous health benefits.
Lobia as a super-food:
- This is rich in soluble dietary fiber and protein.
- Low in fat and low in calorie & hence helps in weight loss.
- Low in sodium and cholesterol free legume.
- Rich in anti-oxidants and helps in skin rejuvenation.
- Delays skin ageing and keeps skin healthy.
- Makes hair shiny and healthy, fights hair loss & boosts hair growth
The list is even longer. However one should try to include them at least twice or thrice in your daily diet.
This is one of the popular beans in Africa and America. In the Southern United States, it’s believed that eating black-eyed peas or Hoppin’ John (rice & peas cooked together in addition to pork/ meat) on new years’ eve brings good luck and prosperity.
In India, this is prepared like other beans curry (e.g Rajma Masala/ Red Kidney Beans Curry, Dal Makhani). This is an easy curry recipe.
You can make these beans alone or can mix them with other beans like black beans, white beans to make curry or soups. Even I love the three beans curry the most. Even mix these beans with rice and make a pulao or biryani.
Also, read other black-eyed peas recipes like Veg Minestrone Soup,

How to make lobia curry?
This lobia curry I have prepared in the pressure cooker. It takes 15 – 20 minutes for the whole process. So it’s quick, easy, healthy. You can prepare this in a dutch oven or any open pot/ pan on stovetop. But this takes longer time may be close to 1 hr or so.
I have never tried this on an open pot since this is very time consuming and not sure it will get properly cooked.
If you eat half cooked legumes, it creates bloating and makes it difficult to digest causing diarrhea, stomach upset, pain, etc.
One more thing you should do when you cook any of these legumes. Soak them overnight. So that it takes lesser time to get cooked and also evenly.
These lobia seeds are not as hard as chickpeas. So you can soak them for 2 hours minimum. What I do is I soak them in hot water and cover the vessel with a lid. So it helps to fasten the process and they turn soft enough to cook further.

Recipe card for black-eyed bean or lobia curry
American Lobia Curry/ Chawli Curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup Lobia/ Black-eyed beans Soaked for 4 - 6 hrs
- 1 large Onion
- 1 large Tomato
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coriander leaves
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
Instructions
- Soak beans for 4 - 6 hrs or over night. then remove from water and keep aside for further process.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds and let it crackcle.
- Add ginger garlic paste or chopped ginger & garlic, chopped green chillies. Saute for a minute.
- Add chopped onion and saute till translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they are soft and mushy.
- Add coriander powder, red chilli powder,turmeric powder. Stir well. Add 1/4 cup water if required to avoid burning of spices.
- Add soaked beans and mix well. Season with salt & pepper. Cook on medium flame for 3 - 5 minutes.
- Add water 1 - 1.5 cup water depending on consistency required.
- Close lid of cooker and pressure cook for 5 - 6 whistles. Turn off gas and wait for the lid to open.
- Once lid opens, with help of spatula or spoon press beans slightly so as to give it a little creamy structure.
- Another way is take out 2 large spoon full of beans from cooker and grind it to a coarse puree and add that back to rest curry. This will thicken the curry gravy.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

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