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.
Lobia has many names in fact. This is also called black-eyed peas or cowpeas or black-eyed beans. It is one of the popular beans worldwide. Also, these are versatile and you can add them in many ways to your diet.
Though this is named "peas", it's a bean and belongs to the legume. It contains almost all essential vitamins and minerals. Hence it's one of the superfoods with numerous health benefits.
Black-eyed peas or lobia as a super-food:
- This is rich in soluble dietary fiber and protein.
- Low in fat and low in calories & hence helps in weight loss.
- Low in sodium and cholesterol-free legume.
- Rich in anti-oxidants and helps in skin rejuvenation.
- Delays skin aging and keeps skin healthy.
- Makes hair shiny and healthy, fights hair loss & boosts hair growth
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.
Black-eyed Peas Curry Recipe
If you are looking for a black-eyed peas recipe, then this is the best one. You can also make salads, and stews with black-eyed peas. It takes less than 30 minutes for the whole process. This is a quick, easy, healthy curry. You can prepare this in a dutch oven or any open pot/ pan on the stovetop. But this takes a long time may be close to 1 hr or so. Hence pressure cooking is always the best option to cook faster. You can use a manual pressure cooker for the stovetop or in an instant pot.
Why should you soak the beans?
These fall in the legumes category and have a hard texture. This takes longer to get cooked. If you eat half-cooked legumes, it creates bloating and makes it difficult to digest causing diarrhea, stomach upset, pain, etc.
Soaking helps to soften the beans and also fastens to their cooking of them. So we normally soak them overnight.
Again the black-eyed peas or lobia are not as hard as chickpeas. So you can soak them for 2 hours minimum. What I do is 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.
Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas
Ingredients -
Black-eyed beans - Or Lobia. This is the hero ingredient.
Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Tomatoes (Fresh & paste)
Spices - Coriander powder, cumin, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder (paprika), garam masala (all-spices), and salt
Herbs - Lots of fresh cilantro leaves
Step-by-step Instructions
Start the IP on saute mode. When it shows HOT, add oil. Then add cumin seeds, chopped ginger & garlic. Now add chopped onion or onion paste to the pot.
Stir it and allow it to cook for 2 minutes or till translucent. Now add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste followed by salt.
Cook it for another minute or till the tomatoes are soft and cooked. Then add the ground spices and mix well. Next, add the soaked lobia and veg broth or water. Deglaze the pot before closing the lid.
Cancel the sauté mode and set it on manual pressure cook mode for 12 minutes. Seal the vent knob. Once it's cooked allow to natural pressure release for 5 minutes and then quick release for rest. You can also keep this as it is till all pressure is released naturally. Open the lid.
Take out 2 ladles of the beans and blend them roughly. Add it back to the stew. This will thicken the gravy. Otherwise use a hand blender and give one or two pulse blends roughly. However, this is an optional step. You can also simmer the curry for 2 minutes on sauté mode to thicken the gravy.
Add finely chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with rice or flatbreads of your choice. Black-eyed peas curry is ready in less than 30 minutes.
Black-Eyed Peas Curry On Stove Top
On the stovetop, you can cook them in a manual pressure cooker or a dutch oven. In both ways, the process will be same other than the setting mode and timing part. Cook the curry for 45 - 60 minutes on the low flame when cooking in a pot like a Dutch oven (cover with a lid for faster cooking). And in the case of a manual pressure cooker, cook up to 5 - 6 whistles.
Black-Eyed Peas Recipe (Black-Eyed Peas Curry)
Black-Eyed Peas Curry
Equipment
- Dutch oven/ pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup lobia or black-eyed peas soaked for 4 - 6 hrs, become around 2.5 cups when soaked
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste (minced 1/2 inch fresh ginger and 4 garlic pods)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt (to taste)
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 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 (manual or electric).
- Add cumin seeds and let it crackcle.
- Add ginger garlic paste or chopped ginger, garlic.
- Saute for a minute.
- Add chopped onion and saute till translucent.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they are soft and mushy.
- Then add the ground spices mentioned in the ingredients list above and salt. Stir well.
- Add 2 - 4 tbsp 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 cup water before closing the lid of the cooker.
- Close lid of cooker and pressure cook for 5 - 6 whistles.
- Turn off hear and wait for natural pressure release.
- Once lid opens, with a spoon press beans slightly so as to give it a little creamy consistency.
- Another way is take out 1cup of cooked curry and blend it to a coarse puree.
- and add that back to the cooker. This will thicken the curry gravy.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Lobia Curry in Instant Pot
- Start the instant pot on saute mode for 5 minutes.
- Once the inner pot is hot, add oil.
- Add cumin seeds, onion, ginger, garlic to the pot.
- Saute for 2 minutes till onions are translucent.
- Then add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste to the pot.
- Saute for 2 minutes till tomatoes are cooked.
- Now add all the ground spices mentioned in the list above and saute.
- Add 3 - 4 tbsp broth and deglaze the pot.
- Now add soaked lobia and saute for a minute.
- Add 2 cups water or broth to the pot.
- Deglaze again before closing the lid.
- Turn off saute mode and start pressure cook mode.
- Seal vent and set timer to 10 minutes.
- After that let it be on natural pressure release.
- Once pressure released, open the lid.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
- For a thicker consistency, coarsely blend few of the beans with a spoon or blender.
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