Protein rich beans curry

Black and White Beans curry

Even though I'm a big fan of fresh spice mixes, busy schedules and laziness always forces me to use readymade masalas in most of my cooking. One of those times when you take that little extra time and effort to grind masalas(and then take care of the soiled mixie :P ), the results are soooooohooooo worth it! In my quest to have enough protein in my veggie diet I have been using different kinds of dried beans. I made this dish of black beans and black eyes peas with freshly ground masala paste. Boy, was I happy with the end product!! :D It actually forced me to create a blog post (not to mention HOW lazy I have been and not posted here in forever! :-| ), only so that I can remember exactly what I did and re create it later. 

What you need : 

Black beans - 1/2 cup

Black eyes peas - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1 small (chopped coarsely)

Tomato - 1 large (chopped coarsely) or 3 tbsp tomato puree

Dry Roast:

Dry grated coconut - 2 to 3 tbsp

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Green cardamom - 1

Cinnanom - 1/2 inch (small piece)

Cloves - 3-4 (Depending on how spicy you want)

Whole Black pepper - 1 tsp

Cumin sees - 1 tsp

Shahjeera (black cumin) - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp

Dry red chillies - 2 (more if you want more heat :D )

Fennel seeds (Saunf) - about 1/4 tsp - I've added more in the past and didn't like how it has an overpowering taste

Method :

1. Soak the beans in water for about 4-6 hours. Drain and wash by changing water a few times.

2. Dry roast all the masala ingredients on low heat till they release aroma. Add coconut in the end as it might roast very quickly. Keep aside.

3. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add onion and saute till it is light brown.If using tomato puree, skip to step 5.

4. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry for some time.

5. Grind together the dry roasted masala and onion mixture to a smooth paste.

6. Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add masala paste, tomato puree and beans.

7. Add salt to taste and enough water to cover the beans completely.

8. Pressure cook the beans mixture for 2 to 3 whistles.

Serve with rice or rotis. :) To add to the taste, top it off with some ghee.

PS: I didn't take any pictures of this. Will upload pics some time soon. ;)