I love being in my kitchen when it’s stormy outside! I especially love cooking with warming Indian spices when it’s cold. Here’s something I just finished making, and I wanted to share it with you because I know you’re going to love it. The flavors were dancing in my mouth, this dish literally made me smile.
This dish is great as a side dish along with brown rice and baked winter squash. It also works well as an appetizer.
Spiced Black-Eyed Peas
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil
- ½ tsp. whole cumin seeds
- 2 ½ cups black eyed peas, cooked ( See note at the bottom)
- 1 tsp. coriander powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. turmeric powder
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ tsp. garam masala
- ½ cup red onion, diced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions:
- Heat oil in a heavy skillet
- When oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally
- Stir in black-eyed peas
- Add coriander, salt, turmeric and chili powder along with ½ cup of water
- Bring to a boil
- Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed
- Stir in lemon juice and garam masala
- Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with onion and cilantro
- Serve immediately
How to Make Black-Eyed Peas from Scratch
You can use canned black-eyed peas, but there’s a noticeable difference between canned and freshly cooked beans. There was a time when I was shy about cooking my own beans, but once I started doing it, there was no going back.
To make black-eyed peas from scratch, place 1 1/2 cup of beans in a large bowl and cover the beans with fresh water. Add enough water so that the beans are covered by several inches.
Soak for 8 hours. Soaking black-eyed peas isn’t entirely necessary, but they will cook faster and I find the final product to be more tender after they’ve been soaked.
After beans have soaked, rinse them a few times with fresh water.
Place beans in a large pot along with a two inch strip of Kombu (this sea vegetable makes beans easier to digest) and cover with 2 1/2 quarts of fresh, cold water and place burner or flame on high.
Bring water to a boil and bring heat down to medium.
Let beans cook for 40-50 minutes, stirring once or twice. Beans should be tender but not falling apart when they are done.
Eat well, live well.
