Kadala Curry Recipe
Kadala Curry is a quintessential dish in every Malayalee household. It’s very popular to serve with puttu, appam, and dosa for breakfast and with idiyappam or string hoppers, paratha, and boiled red rice for lunch or dinner.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
To Cook The Chickpeas
- 1 cup dried black chickpeas (kala chana)
- ½ teaspon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 3-4 cloves (laung)
For Coconut Paste
- ½ cup grated fresh coconut
- ¼ cup peeled shallots
- 10-12 curry leaves
For The Curry
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 2-3 green chilies 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
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing) skip for gluten-free
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2-3 whole dry red chilies stalks removed
Instructions
Cook The Chickpeas
- Wash chickpeas with water and soak them in 3 cups of water for 8 hours.
- Drain the water and wash the chickpeas once again.
- Add the soaked chana to a pressure cooker along with 1 and ½ cups of water, turmeric powder, salt, green cardamoms, cinnamon stick, and cloves, and stir gently.
- Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.
- 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 quick- release the remaining pressure and open the lid. Keep the cooked chickpeas aside. Do not drain the cooking liquid; you’ll add it to the curry.
To cook the chickpeas in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker, cook for one whistle on high heat. Then, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid of the cooker.
Make The Coconut Paste
- Add coconut to a skillet and roast on medium heat until is it lightly browned (3-4 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Add shallots and curry leaves and roast until the coconut is nicely browned. You want it noticeably darker than toast. This roasting is what gives the curry its signature smoky depth and the lovely color.
- Once the coconut is roasted, add it to a blender jar along with ¼ cup of water and blend to make a smooth paste. Scrape the sides of the jar a few times while blending. Set the paste aside.
Make The Curry
- Heat coconut oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, and, ginger garlic paste and saute for 10-12 seconds.
- Add onions and cook until it turns translucent (3-4 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Now add tomatoes and green chilies and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Stir frequently while cooking.
- Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, and garam masala powder, and cook for 1 minute.
- Add some water if the masala is drying out.
- Now add the coconut paste that you made earlier and mix well.
- Add the cooked chana along with the water in which it was cooked to the pan.
- Reduce the heat to low.
- Cook the curry for 10-12 minutes. Mash a few chana with the back of the ladle to make the gravy creamier.
- Add some more water if the curry is too thick.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
Temper The Curry
- Heat coconut oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves, and dry red chilies, and fry for 4-5 seconds.
- Pour the tempering over the curry and stir gently. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
To save time, you can buy pre-grated fresh coconut. It is available in the freezer section of any Indian grocery store. If using frozen coconut, then thaw it to room temperature before using it in the recipe.
Adjust the green chilies as per your taste.
If shallots are unavailable, then you can use sliced onions in their place.
If you forget to soak the chickpeas, boil 3 cups of water, pour it over the chickpeas, cover, and let them soak for 1 hour. Drain, rinse, then pressure cook for 2-3 minutes more than the usual
You can adjust the consistency of the curry by adding more or less water. If you like it thick, add less water; if you like it thin, add more water.
Add 2 kodampuli pieces when simmering the curry for a traditional Kerala-style tang.
Nutrition
Calories: 415kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 1313mg | Potassium: 602mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 824IU | Vitamin C: 192mg | Calcium: 158mg | Iron: 4mg
