Kadala Curry Recipe | Kerala Kadala Curry for Puttu Recipe

Vegan Kadala Curry Recipe

Kadala curry is a favourite traditional Kerala recipe.

Whole Food Plant Based Kadala Curry Recipe

Course: Side Dish for Course 3 (Grain Dishes) for Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Kerala Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Kadala / Black Chickpeas / Kala Chana
1 Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 cm piece Ginger
5 cloves Garlic
1 Green Chili
2 tsp Dhaniya / Coriander Seed Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 tbsp Almond Butter
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
10 Curry Leaves
4 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below for details)
1/4 tsp Asafoetida / Hing

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Soak kadala / black chickpeas / kala chana overnight, or at least for 6 hours.
2. Drain water (use for garden!) and boil or pressure cook chana until cooked.
3. Slit green chili along its length. Peel onions and ginger. Chop onion and tomatoes into quarters, and blend together with ginger.
4. Start cooking onion-tomato-ginger paste with slit green chili.
5. Peel and crush / grind garlic to a paste. Keep aside for ten minutes, then add to the boiling onion-tomat-ginger paste, along with dhaniya powder and turmeric powder.
6. Once cooked, remove from stove and mix in cooked kadala.
7. Mix almond butter with black pepper powder, garam masala, miso paste, and hing into kadala curry.
8. Dry roast mustard seeds. As soon as they begin sputtering, mix into kadal curry along with curry leaves. Serve fresh with Kerala Red Rice Puttu!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Kadala Curry Recipe

1. For a creamy Kadala Curry, mash or grind some of the cooked black chickpeas to a paste and mix it into the kadala curry!

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Kadala Curry Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why legumes? Legumes are the #1 number food associated with long life in many recent large studies! They also fuel your gut microbiome through their resistant starch content and slow down glucose absorption, keeping your blood sugar levels steady - even in the next meal! This has been called the Second Meal Effect. This recipe is one of the yummiest ways to include pulses and legumes in your daily diet.
3. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!