Black-Eyed Pea Masala

I love this recipe. Could eat it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Have eaten it breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And very inexpensive to make!

(Ingredients and simple instructions are at the bottom.)

First thing you need to do is soak your black-eyed peas for at least 4 hours. Dump your 2 1/2 cups of dried black-eyed peas into a bowl that seems too big for that amount and fill it to the top with water. I will do this before I go to bed and put them in the frig. When I get home from work the next day they're all ready to go.

After they've soaked, you'll notice they're taking up a lot more space in the bowl now! I usually don't drain them unless there is a lot of water left.

So now you can get your garlic, onion, and ginger ready. I am not really the gadget type, but I do love my onion chopper & mini food processor. Makes this go so much faster.

Saute the onion for about five minutes. You can use oil, butter, ghee, or even water. Just so that they start to soften. Then add your garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or so.

Now add your spices. The amounts can be done to your taste. I don't like to add too much garam masala, especially if it's a mix with a lot of cinnamon. Stir that up and let it saute for another minute. It will look very, uh, appetizing, like this:

Then you can dump your tomatoes in, fresh or canned, pureed or chopped, whatever your preference. I stir this around and let it cook a few minutes and then add the peas along with 4 cups of water. I'll usually add some salt at this point too. Bring it to a boil and then reduce your heat, cover, and cook for about 2 hours or until the peas are done.

Once it's done you can fold in a can of coconut milk, or I prefer to use unsweetened coconut to flavor it (canned coconut milk just tastes funny to me). Buy a package of unsweetened coconut flakes from the cooking aisle. In a blender, combine 2 cups of coconut flakes with 2 cups of boiling water. Hold the lid on tight, using a pot holder so you don't have boiling water flying in your face, and blend. I let that sit while the peas are cooking. When I'm ready to add it, I strain this through cheesecloth and use the liquid in place of the coconut milk.

That's it! Eat as is, or serve over brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat groats, or barley. So good!

CliffNotes

2 1/2 cups dried black-eyed peas, soaked

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, diced

1 inch ginger, minced

5 tsp. curry powder and/or garam masala

2 1/2 tsp. tumeric

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 cup chopped tomatoes or a can of diced tomatoes

salt, to taste

4 cups water

coconut milk

1. Soak peas in water for 4 hours.

2. Saute onion, garlic, and ginger for about 6 minutes.

3. Add spices and saute 1 minutes.

4. Stir in tomatoes and cook 1 minute.

5. Add peas, salt to taste, and 4 cups of water.

6. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cover.

7. Cook 2 hours or until peas are done.

8. Fold in coconut milk (or combine 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes with 2 cups boiling water, blend, let sit, drain through cheesecloth and use that liquid)