Lobia | Black-eyed Beans Curry..Creamy but Low fat!!

I never tasted this before marriage as we were not familiar with this recipe though it is made in South Indian way at home in the form of sundal,fritters and kurma.Before marriage my knowledge was limited to only few varieties of North Indian dishes and I used to make them occasionally in a rich manner.Those were the days I had never thought of calories and all those stuff and I used to make the North Indian gravies very rich as I used to prepare them once in a while.Only after marriage I realized low cal cooking is necessary on a daily basis and hence reduced my oil intake to a large extent.Hubby,having the very strong roots of Delhi always prefer North Indian dishes and he is also fond of rajma, lobia, chole and all those kind of pulses and beans.One of my friends taught me this recipe after my marriage and I can say that I developed liking to these kind of dishes like rajma,lobia only after marriage and now it is very common made at my place at least once a week.

Coming to the recipe,the preparation of this recipe is very much similar to my earlier Rajma recipe,just that the rajma beans are replaced by Lobia.As this is cooked on low flame for longer duration the texture of the gravy and beans turns very creamy and also the beans turn extremely soft with melt in mouth texture.If you want to make it rich you can go ahead with cream otherwise for a daily meal I suggest you to go with the addition of milk instead of cream.If you have not tried Lobia in North Indian style,do give a try for sure as it is really really tasty.
I have also mentioned two ways of making it,one is the traditional way and the other one is direct pressure cooking method which is way easier and apt when pressed for time.Personally I prefer the direct pressure cooking method as it helps the beans in absorbing all the flavors and masalas into it and also gives a nice creamy texture to the dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup Lobia/black eyed beans/alasandulu
2 medium onions,finely chopped or grated onion
3 medium tomatoes,ground to a puree
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
3/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3 tbsp cream or 1/2 cup milk
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

for tadka:
1/2 " cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 green chilli
1 pinch hing
2 tsp oil
Method:

1. Soak Lobia overnight in water with some salt .Add a pinch of garam masala to it and pressure cook on high for 2 whistles and simmer it and cook for 25-30 mins.
2. In a pan,take oil add cinnamon stick,bay leaf,green chilli and fry,add hing and pinch of garam masala powder and fry a bit.
3. Add finely chopped or grated onions and fry until its soft,now add ginger-garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes away.
4. Add ground tomato and fry it well.Add all the dry masalas and fry until the masalas leaves the oil at the edges.
5. Add salt,cooked lobhia and mix everything and cover it and cook on a low flame for 8-10 mins.
6. Add milk or cream and cook for a minute and switch off the flame.Do not cook for more time after you add cream/milk to it,otherwise it will curdle.
7. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice and give a stir.

Serve it hot with roti/chapathi/paratha/jeera rice/peas pulav.

Direct Pressure Cooking easy method:

1. Soak Lobia overnight and wash well a couple of times.
2. In a small pressure cooker heat oil and add cinnamon stick,bay leaf,green chilli and fry,add hing and pinch of garam masala powder and fry a bit.
3. Add finely chopped or grated onions and fry until its soft,now add ginger-garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes away.
4. Add ground tomato and fry it well.Add all the dry masalas and fry until the masalas leaves the oil at the edges.
5. Add salt,cooked lobhia and mix everything and cover it with lid and pressure cook for 2 whistles and simmer it and cook on a low flame for 25-30 mins.
6. After the pressure drops add milk or cream and reheat it for a minute over a low flame and switch off immediately.Do not cook for more time after you add cream/milk to it,otherwise it will curdle.
7. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice and give a stir.

Serve it hot with roti/chapathi/paratha/jeera rice/peas pulav.

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Lobia fritters and Lobia sundal

And here comes the last two dishes which prepared on diwali and directly to the recipes today.

Lobia Fritters/Alasandula vada:

Ingredients:

1 cup Lobia/Alasandulu/Black eyed peas
3-4 tbsp finely chopped Onion(1 onion)
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
2-3 tbsp grated carrot(optional)
1 " ginger,chopped
3-4 green chillies
1 tbsp chopped curryleaves
salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method:

• Soak lobia overnight or atleast for 3hrs.Drain them and spread over a kitchen towel/napkin to remove excess water and pat dry.
• Grind lobia with ginger,salt and green chillies to a coarse paste,preferably do this process in whipper mode.
• Add finely chopped onions,coriander,curry leaves and grated carrot and mix well.
• Heat oil in a deep kadai over low flame until it is quite hot.
• Grease a thick plastic cover or banana leaf or your palm with oil and take a small portion of batter and make a round ball out of it and slight pat it until it forms vada by pressing it at the edges and carefully lower them into hot oil and fry them over medium flame until it is golden brown and crisp outer side.
• Drain them on paper towels and serve it hot with tomato ketchup.

Lobia Sundal/Alasandula Guggillu:

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked Lobia/Alasandulu/Black eyed peas
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing/asafoetida(optional)
5-6 curry leaves
2-3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
3-4 dry red chillies,broken
1 tsp lemon juice(optional)
1 tsp ghee/oil
salt to taste

Method:

• Soak lobia overnight or atleast for 3hrs.Pressure cook them with some salt until 3-4 whistles,it should hold its shape and should not become mushy.Drain cooked lobia and set aside.
• Heat ghee in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds.Add chana dal and urad dal and fry until they turn red in color.
• Add broken red chillies and fry for a minute.Now add curry leaves and hing and fry for another minute.
• Add cooked and drained lobia and stir fry for few minutes,do this process carefully in order to avoid lobia to become mushy.
• Add little salt as we added already some salt while cooking them.Add grated coconut and mix properly.
• Switch off the flame and after a minute add lemon juice and stir properly and serve.
  

Serve it hot/warm/cold.

Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering.

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