Bean Curry
This healthy bean curry takes less than 15 minutes and it is fantastic. The black-eyed peas combined with the spices make a delightful combo.
Renay, a reader, sent me this bean curry recipe. As evidenced by the number of curry-flavored dishes on my blog (Coconut Chicken Curry, Chicken with Green Curry Sauce, Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce, Shrimp Stir Fry in Coconut Curry Sauce), she thought I would enjoy it, and she was right!
To be honest, I was a little skeptical upon first viewing – I’ve never even eaten black eyed peas (I know, the horror!), let alone bought them to cook with, but I can’t resist a good curry recipe, so try it I did. And it was fantastic.
Who knew that black eyed peas would make curry so delightfully yummy?
This meal is healthful and can be made in seriously less than 15 minutes. The best item to note, however, is the wonderful flavors brought in by the garam masala, cilantro and ginger.
I served this with naan (which is addicting in and of itself), and in my book, it was pretty nearly a perfect meal.
Filling, oh so delicious, and fast. I know many of you will be skeptical, too, but I hope you try it and love it as much as we did! Thanks for the recipe, Renay!
Bean Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- Pinch cayenne, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- ¾ cup half and half
- 1 cup vegetable stock or chicken broth
- 1 can black-eyed peas, lightly drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; saute 5 minutes or until translucent and slightly browned. Stir in garlic and grated ginger root; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add tomato; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in turmeric, cayenne, salt, paprika, and garam masala; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add half and half, stock, and black-eyed peas.
- Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro. Serve immediately with rice, chapati, or naan.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Renay, a reader
74 Comments on “Bean Curry”
i plan to make this recipe. It looks great.
I’m committed to no shopping for three more weeks to help keep the CoVid curve down. I’ve got all the ingredients for this recipe except cilantro. I do have some growing in a south facing window (45th parallel north) but it won’t be ready before my half and half needs to be used. So, I think I”ll wait for my cilantro – it’s such an important flavor – and substitute coconut milk for the half and half- since that will be long gone by the time my cilantro is ready for some snipping. Also, my beans are dry, and I’ll cook up the batch and then make some other fun dish with the rest of the beans.
Made this as written as far as spices and liquids. I did add more veggies: garbanzo beans for black eyed peas, cauliflower because Mel recommended it, plus broccoli. Really good! I would make it again. The amount of liquid is still plenty with all the extra veggies added. All garam masala’s are different, but in my experience, if you want it spicy, you’ll want to add something like sliced jalapenos or cayenne powder.
I needed a quick meal tonight, and this hit the spot. I didn’t have black eyed peas, but I did have canellini beans. All but my picky eater loved it! It would have been great with cauliflower, but I didn’t have any. I also missed out on the cilantro. I will have to try it again with those additions.
We LOVE this recipe! It inspired us to buy Garam masala. I cook a pound of dried black eyed peas and quadruple this recipe. We make it often. It’s so delicious! Thank you for sharing it!
Happy you love this one, Rachel! It’s a family favorite but I haven’t made it in a long time…thanks for reminding me!
Tonight I tried this recipe in the instant pot. I did 2 minutes. Then released pressure. But I didn’t add the half and half to the instant pot. It turned out great!
We LOVED this recipe! Thank you for making black eyed peas interesting and delicious!!
LOVE the addition of cauliflower! I also added shrimp at the same step as the tomato and it cooked up nicely in the last few minutes! so good
also this is probably my favorite meal right now! I make it at least twice a month! great discovery. thanks mel!
Hi Mel!
At what step did you add cauliflower?
Thanks!
I throw it in with the tomatoes.
I couldn’t find garam masala at multiple stores, so I used the recipe found here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-garam-masala/
Right under the “Ingredients” heading there is a place to change the serving size. If you change it to 1 serving and click “adjust recipe” it will equal exactly 1 teaspoon when all the ingredients are combined. Now that I know that it was tasty, I think I will make a greater quantity next time so it will be on hand when I need it!
Also, I agree with Megan H – I’ve made several of the recipes you’ve posted on your site and they are always delicious, so thanks!
This was my first time making curry. It turned out so tasty. I can’t wait to make it again. I sometimes change up the recipes, but despite changing it up a little, I didn’t ruin it. I used garbanzo beans and coconut milk. Thank you so much for making your website. I come to your site often to find different dinner ideas. I feel like I can actually cook when I make recipes from your site!
Stupid rookie embarrassing question- but what do you mean by lightly drained?
Anne – Not a stupid question. Just get rid of most of the liquid in the can.
I made this for dinner last night, and my husband and I loved it! I had never used Garam Masala in my cooking before, but I will from now on 🙂 It was flavorful, but not overwhelming like curry dishes I’ve had in the past. The only downside to the dish was that my husband got home a little late, so it sat on the stove for an extra half hour. The sauce got a little thicker, which was nice, but the beans got really mushy. I think next time I would either be sure to eat it right away (or wait to throw them in until I know we’re eating right away) or take the time and cook up some dry beans and use them instead. But regardless of mushy beans, this dish was greatly enjoyed and is going into the menu rotation. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Hi Mel. Yummy dish. Thanks much for the inspiration, Just made this and had to make a couple subs based on what we had on hand and, “shopper error.” :)). Sooo, substituted garbanzos for black eyed peas and light coconut milk instead of 1/2 and 1/2. Also, did add cauliflower plus threw in handful of frozen baby green peas for color and a couple of fresh, diced jalapeño vs cayenne and extra cilantro because we love it. Very tasty, but I will try with black eyed peas next time as garbanzos are not our fav. Tx!!
I have made this recipe a few times now (I love it). I noticed the picture has cauliflower in it (I think). We’ve done it with the cauliflower and without it and enjoyed it both ways.
Made this last night for dinner. It was the fastest curry I’ve ever made and it was really good. This is definitely a keeper!