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Fresh beans of all kinds are flooding the market right now. Bangaloreans love their fresh beans and lentils. When they are in season, families eat them at least for one meal everyday!

Cool sunny winter afternoons are leisurely spent sitting and shelling fresh beans. They are loved by everybody so much that they replace dried beans and lentils in almost all the staples! Apparently even the hardcore non-vegetarian locals enjoy eating these bean curries instead of their meat!

Thogarikaalu or Pigeon peas make their appearance in winter. I love these little beauties! Each one of them look different and come in several colours and sizes! I love shelling fresh pigeon pea pods for the surprise factor involved! You never know what you might find inside…  they could be vibrant green, pretty pink or even spotted! I loved shooting these gorgeous beans too! So colourful and fun.

They are not only very nutritious but also totally delicious!! They are creamy when cooked well and have a very mild bitter aftertaste. I use them a lot in my kitchen. This time I cooked them a little differently so I thought I should share this quick and easy recipe with you all.

Note:

You can use green peas or any other seasonal beans instead of pigeon peas here.

Frozen beans can work fine too! In that case you do not have to precook them. Just add them to the pan along with the spices and let it cook.

Use a teaspoon of dry red chili powder along with salt if you want your stir-fry to be hotter.

Both Carom seeds and asafetida have strong flavors so if you don’t like them you can skip them.  They add a distinct taste to the dish though.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh green pigeon peas
• 1 tbps oil
• ½ tsp carom seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp asafetida
• 2-4 fresh green chilies
• 1 inch fresh ginger root
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 2-3 tbsp chickpea flour
• 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves.
• Salt to taste

Recipe:

Cook the fresh pigeon peas with about ½ cup of water and a little bit of salt to taste.  I use the pressure cooker to make this faster. Cook with less water if you do not want to throw away the water it’s boiled in. If you boil them with a lot of water, you need to drain it.

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When it’s hot, add the carom seeds and cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle add the asafetida followed by split green chilies and finely chopped ginger. Fry for a few seconds and add the cooked pigeon peas. Mix well and season with a little more salt if needed. Close the lid and cook in low flame for 5 minutes. You can sprinkle some water if it looks too dry. We want the pigeon peas to absorb all the spices. Now add the chickpea flour. Toss it well for the flour to coat all the pigeon peas. Close and cook for a couple of more minutes.

Sprinkle the finely chopped cilantro on top and serve right way.