Kadala Curry Recipe

The first time I ate kadala curry, I was sitting on a wooden houseboat deck in Alleppey in the morning, watching mist lift off the backwaters. The owner set down a plate of puttu and a bowl of dark, fragrant curry. One bite and I understood why every Malayalee I know calls this their comfort food. It was earthy and spicy, with a toasty, almost smoky sweetness from the coconut.

My early attempts to make kadala curry were nice but pale. They tasted like chickpeas in coconut sauce, not like that curry. The fix was simple once I found it. Cook the chana with whole spices, roast the coconut with shallots until it turns deep brown, and save every drop of the cooking water.

This is the version I make now, and it is the one I am proudest of on the blog. It needs a little planning because you soak the chickpeas overnight. Forgot to soak them? I have a one-hour fix for that further down.

What Is Kadala Curry?

Kadala curry is a Kerala-style curry of black chickpeas simmered in a paste of roasted coconut, shallots, and curry leaves, then finished with a coconut-oil tempering.

Kadala is the Malayalam word for black chickpeas (kala chana, desi chana, or black Bengal gram), and kari means curry. It is the classic partner for puttu and appam at a Kerala breakfast.

If you like coconut-based curries, then do try my Malabar chicken curry as well.

How To Make Kerala Kadala Curry

The method has four parts: cook the chickpeas, roast and grind the coconut paste, build the curry, and finish with a tempering.

Soak And Cook The Chickpeas

Step 1: Wash 1 cup of dried black chickpeas and soak them in 3 cups of water for 8 hours. Drain, then rinse once more. Black chana has a tough skin, and soaking helps it cook evenly instead of staying chalky in the middle. They will roughly double in size, like in the photo below.

Step 2: Add the soaked chana to the Instant Pot with the following ingredients. Stir gently. Most recipes boil the chickpeas in plain water, but I add the whole spices here on purpose. The chana absorb that warmth as they cook, so every bite tastes seasoned, not just the gravy.

• 1 and ½ cups of water
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 green cardamoms
• 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cloves

Step 3: Close the lid and set the valve to sealing.

Step 4: Press PRESSURE COOK and set 15 minutes at high pressure. The pot takes 10-12 minutes to come to pressure first. When the timer beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick-release the rest. Do not drain the cooking liquid. It is starchy and spiced, and it becomes the body of your gravy. A cooked chickpea should crush easily between your thumb and finger.

Roast And Grind The Coconut Paste

Step 5: Add ½ cup of grated fresh coconut to a dry skillet. Roast over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until it turns lightly golden.

Step 6: Add ¼ cup of peeled shallots and 10-12 curry leaves. Keep roasting until the coconut is a deep, even brown: noticeably darker than toast. This step gives kadala curry its smoky depth and dark color, so don’t stop at golden.

Step 7: Add the roasted coconut, shallots, and curry leaves to a blender jar with ¼ cup water.

Step 8: Blend to a fine paste, scraping down the sides a few times. Take an extra 30 seconds; a grainy paste leaves the gravy gritty. Set it aside.

Build The Curry

Step 9: Heat 4 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the following ingredients and sauté for 10-12 seconds.

• ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 10-12 curry leaves
• 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste

Step 10: Add ½ cup of chopped red onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until soft and translucent.

Step 11: Add ½ cup of chopped tomatoes and 2-3 slit green chilies. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the tomatoes soften.

Step 12: Add the following spice powders and cook for a minute. If the pan looks dry, add a splash of water. Ground spices scorch quickly, and scorched spice is the most common cause of a bitter curry.

• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder

Step 13: Stir in the roasted coconut paste and mix well.

Step 14: Add the cooked chana along with all of its cooking water.

Step 15: Turn the heat to low and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Mash about ¼ cup of the chana against the side of the pan with your ladle. This thickens the gravy naturally, with no flour or cashews needed. If it gets too thick, add hot water, then taste before adding salt. The chickpeas were already cooked with 2 teaspoons, so you may not need more.

Temper And Serve

Step 16: Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the following ingredients and fry for 4–5 seconds. This final splash is the tadka (tempering): hot, spice-flavored oil poured over a dish right before serving.

• ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafetida
• 10-12 curry leaves
• 2-3 whole dry red chilies

Step 17: Pour the sizzling tempering over the curry and stir gently. Serve hot. I save this step for the end so the curry leaves stay crisp and fragrant when the bowl hits the table.

Serving Suggestions

For breakfast, kadala curry goes with puttu (steamed rice-and-coconut cylinders), appam, idiyappam (string hoppers), or dosa.

For lunch or dinner, serve it with boiled Kerala matta rice, poori, or flaky Kerala parotta.

It is also lovely next to ghee rice (nei choru).

Building a full Kerala spread? Pair it with a mild vegetable stew and appam, or set it beside Malabar chicken curry, which uses the same roasted-coconut idea with chicken.

Storage Suggestions

Kadala curry tastes even deeper the next day as the spices settle in. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

To reheat, warm it in a pan on the stovetop over low heat or in a microwave with a splash of hot water, stirring until it is loose and steaming again.

You can also freeze it for up to a month, then thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat the same way.