Kadala curry or Kerala-style black chickpea curry is a quintessential dish in every Malayalee household. It’s a very popular dish to serve with puttu, appam, and dosa and also eaten with idiyappam or string hoppers, paratha, and boiled red rice for lunch or dinner.
Here are some more black chickpea recipes that you can include in your everyday meals, as they are high in protein – Jaisalmeri Chana, Sookha Kala Chana, Kala Chana Curry, and Chana Chaat.
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About This Recipe
Kadala curry is Kerala style black chickpea curry made using grated fresh coconut and a few spices. It has a very delicious flavor and is best served for breakfast with puttu, dosa, or idiyappam. Or a hearty lunch along with steamed matta rice, poori, paratha, or roti.
Each household has its own way of making kadala curry. Some make it semi-dry and some with gravy. It can be made with or without coconut or even using coconut milk.
I learned this recipe from a houseboat owner on one of my trips to Kerala, so sharing his version today. I promise it’s absolutely delicious.
Since black chickpeas are a great source of vegetarian protein, it’s a great way to include them in your diet. This curry is vegan and gluten-free too.
This Kadala Curry is,
- Delicious
- Vegan and Gluten-Free
- Protein Rich
- Spicy
- Perfect for everyday meals
Ingredients
Black Chickpeas are soaked in water overnight or a minimum of 6 to 8 hours so that they become easy to cook and also becomes digestible.
Grated fresh coconut is roasted until dark in color. This process gives a very robust flavor to this curry and a very nice color too. Buy grated coconut to save you some time. It is available in the freezer section of an Indian grocery store.
You can adjust the amount of green chili peppers, as per your taste.
Curry Leaves adds a beautiful South Indian touch to the curry, so make sure you use the fresh aromatic ones.
I prefer to use coconut oil for this curry to give it an authentic touch, but you can use vegetable oil or ghee.
To enhance the taste of the curry, we have used some basic spices such as coriander powder, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, and garam masala spice mix. For a very authentic taste, use my Kerala style garam masala in this recipe.
For the Tempering – To temper the kadala curry, we will need mustard seeds, asafetida (hing), curry leaves, and dry red chilies.
Tempering is optional, but it does adds a great flavor to the curry.
How to make Kadala Curry?
Wash 1 cup dry black chickpeas (kala chana) with water and soak it in 3 cups of water for 6-8 hours.
Drain the water, wash the chickpeas once again and add the soaked chana to a pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water and 2 tsp salt. Pressure cook until chana is nicely cooked. (Cook it for one whistle on high heat and then 12-14 minutes on low heat).
Remove the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid of the cooker once the pressure is released.
Note – You can also cook the soaked chana in an instant pot. Add it to the instant pot with 1 cup of water and salt. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer for 15 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, do a 10 minutes natural pressure release. Then release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid.
While the chickpeas are cooking, let’s make the curry. Add ½ cup of grated fresh coconut to a skillet and roast on medium heat until is it nicely browned (3-4 minutes). Keep stirring frequently while roasting to avoid burning and for uniform roasting.
Once the coconut is roasted, add it to the small jar of a blender along with ¼ cup of water and make a smooth paste.
Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add ½ tsp mustard seeds and 10-12 curry leaves and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
Add 2 tsp ginger garlic paste and fry for 20-30 seconds. Add ½ cup chopped onion and fry until it turns translucent (3-4 minutes).
Now add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and 2-3 slit green chili peppers and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Add 1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder, and ½ tsp garam masala powder and fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add some water if the masala is drying out.
Next add the coconut paste that we made earlier.
Add the cooked chana along with the water in which it was cooked to the masala. Cook for 10-12 minutes on medium heat. Mash a few chana with the back of the ladle to make the gravy creamier.
For tempering, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add ½ tsp mustard, ¼ tsp asafetida, 10-12 curry leaves, and 2-3 whole dry red chilies and fry for 4-5 seconds.
Pour the tempering over the curry and stir gently. Serve hot
Frequently Asked Questions
Well, the authentic curry is made only with black chickpeas or kala chana. You can substitute it with other chickpeas but it won’t be called kadala curry then. But other chickpeas will surely taste as good as black chickpeas in this curry.
To make this curry without coconut, you can follow the same process as mentioned below but just skip adding the coconut in the recipe. The dish comes out quite good without coconut as well and you have a different version too.
Pro Tips By Neha
In case you forget to soak the chickpeas, then soak them in boiling hot water for about 2 to 3 hours before cooking.
You can cook the chickpeas and store them in the fridge a day before if you are planning to cook in the morning. Finishing this step helps to make the curry in lesser time.
Use coconut oil, to give kadala curry an authentic taste.
You can adjust the consistency of curry, by adding or less water to the curry. If you like it to be thick, add less water and vice versa.
Variations
To make another version of kadala curry, heat coconut oil in a pan. Add onion and ginger and garlic and fry for 4-5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add grated fresh coconut and fry for 3-4 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool down. Grind the mixture along with some water to make a smooth paste.
Heat some more coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves and let them crackle for a few seconds. Add shallots and green chilies. Add the ground masala paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the dry spices and cook for 2 minutes. Add boiled chana and some water and cook for 10-12 minutes. Slightly mash the chana with the back of a ladle.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, this mouthwatering curry is enjoyed with puttu or appam for breakfast.
But, you can also serve it along with steamed rice or ghee rice for your everyday meals. I also like to eat it with tawa paratha or lachha paratha.
Storing Suggestions
As kadala curry has fresh coconut, I would suggest you store it for not more than 2 days. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Heat it either in a pot over the stovetop or in the microwave, before serving it again.
If you feel the gravy has become a little thick while refrigerating, add in a little water and adjust the consistency. Heat the curry well.
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Recipe Card
Kadala Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup grated fresh coconut
- 1 cup dry black chickpeas
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 2-3 green chili peppers (slit into half)
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- salt to taste
For Tempering
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2-3 whole dry red chilies (stalks removed)
Instructions
- Wash 1 cup dry black chickpeas (kala chana) with water and soak it in 3 cups of water for 6-8 hours.
- Drain the water, wash the chickpeas once again and add the soaked chana to a pressure cooker along with 2 cups of water and 2 tsp salt. Pressure cook until chana is nicely cooked. (Cook it for one whistle on high heat and then 12-14 minutes on low heat).
- Remove the cooler from heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid of the cooker once the pressure is released.
- Note – You can also cook the soaked chana in an instant pot. Add it to the instant pot with 1 cup of water and salt. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer for 15 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, do a 10 minutes natural pressure release. Then release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid.
- While the chickpeas are cooking, let’s make the curry. Add ½ cup of grated fresh coconut to a skillet and roast on medium heat until is it nicely browned (3-4 minutes). Keep stirring frequently while roasting to avoid burning and for uniform roasting.
- Once the coconut is roasted, add it to the small jar of a blender along with ¼ cup of water and make a smooth paste.
- Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add ½ tsp mustard seeds and 10-12 curry leaves and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- Add 2 tsp ginger garlic paste and fry for 20-30 seconds. Add ½ cup chopped onion and fry until it turns translucent (3-4 minutes).
- Now add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and 2-3 slit green chili peppers and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Add 1 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder, and ½ tsp garam masala powder and fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Add some water if the masala is drying out.
- Next add the coconut paste that we made earlier.
- Add the cooked chana along with the water in which it was cooked to the masala. Cook for 10-12 minutes on medium heat. Mash a few chana with the back of the ladle to make the gravy creamier.
- For tempering, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add ½ tsp mustard, ¼ tsp asafetida, 10-12 curry leaves, and 2-3 whole dry red chilies and fry for 4-5 seconds.
- Pour the tempering over the curry and stir gently. Serve hot.
