Yellow Peas Chili Recipe - Pattani Kozhumbu

Cooking with dried peas

Dried yellow or white peas (field peas) are a must-have pantry essential. We call it Pattani in Tamil and Vatana in Hindi and it is always available in our homes. 

We Indians love Chaat (popular Indian street food) and many chaat recipes call for these dried peas.

There is also a famous Goan dish called Best Chanya Ros | Goan Vegetarian Vatana curry that's made using them. 

They are very versatile and can be used to make a variety of recipes. 

Chili and winters!

This combination is like two peas in a pod! Come fall and winter, and everyone is searching for soups and chili recipes!

I often make Black Eyed Peas Chili this time of the year. But even South Indian-style Kozhumbu or Kurma recipes are a hit at home.

Be it Chettinad Style Kondai Kadalai Kozhumbu or this Indian vegan curry. They remind you of homemade Chili minus the meat! 

This particular hearty and comforting Instant Pot Vegan Chili recipe is very easy to make. 

Why make this

Like I mentioned before, this is a very easy recipe. But what I like about this particular soul-satisfying white peas kozhumbu is that:

• It's great on a cold, chilly night
• It's an aromatic vegan and gluten-free chili
• It can be made in an Instant Pot or Stovetop
• It has a 30 minutes cook time
• It uses basic pantry staples
• It's a healthy and low-fat recipe
• It comes to your rescue when you have no vegetables to cook

Ingredients needed

As you can see, we need very basic everyday ingredients to make white peas kozhumbu. 

This recipe calls for dry white/yellow peas. They are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber. They are also rich in minerals and have no fat!

They can be found on Amazon or any Indian grocery store. Soak them overnight and use them. 

You don't really need to add any veggies in this curry other than onion and tomatoes. 

Whole and ground spices are key to this recipe. They provide an aromatic flavor to this curry chili. 

Here's how to make it

First, we need to do a bit of prep work for this dried white peas curry chili!

You need to soak these yellow peas in water, overnight. Since we are cooking it in the Instant Pot, no need to cook the peas in advance.

However, if you are making this dish on a stovetop, then boil these dry peas in turmeric + salted water in a pressure cooker till they turn soft. 

Then we need to prepare 2 kinds of masala paste. 

For the white paste, grind coconut, fennel seeds, and Daliya/Split Roasted Chickpeas (pottu kadalai) along with little water.

And for the red paste, grind tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamon along with little water.

Keep both these pastes aside for now.

Here are two ways you can make this aromatic South Indian style Kurma recipe!

Instant Pot Version

1. Turn on the Instant Pot on saute mode. Add oil to the pan and fry chopped onions, green chilies, and 1 tablespoon of cilantro.
   • Saute till the onions turn translucent.
2. Then add the tomato paste along with salt. Mix and cook for a minute.
3. Add the coconut paste. Mix and cook for another 30 seconds. 
4. Next add the spice blends - paprika, turmeric powder, and coriander-cumin powder
   . Cook for another minute.
5. Cancel the saute mode. Add water or vegetable stock to the pot. 
6. Then add the cooked vatana/Pattani to the Instant pot. Put the lid and cook in manual mode for 25 minutes.
   • Release pressure naturally. 
   • If the white peas kozhumbu is very thick, add in little water to dilute it and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
   • In case it's too watery, prepare a flour + water slurry and pour into the curry, It will thicken.
   • Add garam masala and then garnish with chopped cilantro.

Stovetop Version

1. Heat oil in a pan and once it's hot enough add chopped onions and green chilies. Saute till the onions turn translucent.
2. Then add chopped cilantro along with salt, and tomato paste. Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the coconut paste followed by paprika, turmeric powder, and coriander-cumin powder
   . Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Then add the cooked vatana/Pattani to the pan. Mix and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
5.  Add garam masala and then garnish with chopped cilantro.
6. Take it off the flame and serve.

Serving Suggestions

Serve this Pattani Kuzhambu as a side for rice/Jeera Rice or any Indian bread like naan, roti, or chapati. You can also enjoy it as a thick savory porridge soup along with some toasted bread.

Traditionally, this vegan Indian curry is served as a side for Dosa. This kurma recipe is a sure shot winner! Do try it in your kitchen.

Top tips, recommendations, and suggestions

You can also add some other veggies like potatoes, carrots, or squash in this vegan Indian curry. Also add some greens like spinach, kale, beet leaves, etc for fiber.

Yellow Peas are quick to lose their shape when being cooked because they have less chlorophyll in them. So be mindful of that and don't overcook it. 

Add little tamarind water while cooking the peas to get a tangy flavor. Puree a portion of the cooked beans and add them back to the pot to give it a thick, creamy feel.

If you don't have yellow peas or vatana, feel free to use any beans variety like chickpeas, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, green peas, etc in this kurma recipe.

This Instant pot vegan chili can very well be made in advance. It stays in the fridge for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it.

Another way is to pre-cook the dried peas in advance and freeze it. That way, you can make this curry chili whenever you want and in a jiffy!

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