Black Eyed Peas Gassi | Lobia Gassi

This coconut flavoured, Black Eyed Peas Gassi / gravy from Coastal Karnataka, especially popular among the Konkani speaking community is not just healthy but tasty too and goes well with hot rice, chapathis and the popular South Canara breakfast dish – Neer Dose.

Black eyed peas come with a variety of health benefits. Your weekly menu which has this included, ensures that a balanced diet is in place as it rich in fiber, potassium, protein and iron content.

This dish can be included in your weekly menu, as it is easy and quick to prepare.

Few other curries recipe : Curries

Let‘s quickly look into the recipe:

Total time:2 hours 30 minutes (Including soaking time)

Preparation time:10 minutes

Soaking time: 2-3 hours (Minimum)

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Lobia / Black eyed peas: 1.5 cups (soaked for 2-3 hours)

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp.

Salt: To taste

Water: 2 cups

For masala:

Onions: 2 medium sized, chopped

Garlic pods: 3

Grated coconut: 0.5 cup

Red chillies: 3

Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp.

Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp.

Fenugreek seeds: 1 tbsp.

Tamarind: Little

For Tempering:

Cinnamon: ½ inch

Garlic pods: 2

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.

Ghee: 1 tsp.

Asafoetida: little

Curry leaves: Few

Method:

Quick Video :

 

• Wash and soak black eyed peas overnight (If not, at least for 2 to 3 hours)

• In the cooker add 1 tsp. ghee and fry coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chillies. Remove from the cooker and keep aside

• In the same cooker add chopped onions, garlic and roast until onion turns translucent. Add grated coconut and tamarind paste and roast until the grated coconut starts turning brown. Keep aside

• Add all the above in a mixer and grind finely. While grinding, you may add a little water if required. Keep aside

• Add a little ghee to the cooker and add the ground masala and fry until ghee starts seperating out

• To the above, add  soaked lobia / black eyed peas, turmeric , salt and mix. Add 2 cups of water and cook on medium heat for about 4 whistles ( Or until the peas are soft)

• Once the cooker cools, remove the lid, adjust the salt and add a tempering of mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and garlic to it

• Serve it with fresh hot rice or chapathi

Note:

• Roast the spices preferably before grinding
• If you are very fond of coconut, you may consider adding more coconut or even for that matter coconut milk
• I always prefer using Kashmiri chilli as it imparts a beautiful colour to the dish without making it very spicy.
• The dish with the above ingredients ‘measure is medium on spice. If you want it to be spicier, you may consider including more red chillies
• 2 t o3 hours of soaking is enough for the peas to be cooked properly. But if you feel the peas are not soft enough, you can continue to cook for another 2 to 3 whistles or until the peas are soft enough. Soaking the peas for longer hours or soaoking them in warm water too helps
• The above recipe and method is perfect to suit the busy lifestyle of the working community, in the sense that a single cooker would suffice to prepare masala and cook the dish as well. Once the masala is fried and ground, all the ingredients are put together and cooked, leaving you with more time for yourself until the cooker whistles!!!

Gassi stories:

Gassi reminds me of my Konkani friends. Well, during our visit to our friends’ house or attending some of their functions, this is one dish that I looked forward to, apart from the cashew curry. Yummy! Delicious! I fall short of adjectives to describe this particular dish. Gassi can be prepared with different vegetables and pulses, but this one has always remained my favorite. Occasionaly, my mom used to prepare this at home. For pulses, in Germany, I would any day prefer the Turkish store as they have an entire exhibit with variety of pulses. Out of the blue, when I saw black eyed peas kept the other day on the rack, I was reminded of the Konkani style black eyed peas gassi and there was no looking back thereafter. I took it home, soaked it for 4 hours and Lobia gassi was ready for dinner !!! Now it is not just me, but my entire family too is a big fan of this dish. I had prepared this too for dinner once when our friends were visiting us and they had fallen in love with it.