Black eye peas gravy

I might have over 400 recipes in my blog, but still I have the question of what to cook today almost everyday. There might be a millions of recipes passing through our mind from television shows, Internet or book,  the questions is about ,do I have these ingredients in my pantry,will this recipe suit my family and above all is it easy to cook and how much time does it take.  It's not possible to spend hours and hours in the kitchen everyday.  On special occasions we might cook different recipes and lots of varieties to please our family, but on daily basis, I'm sure everybody will be looking for something easy to cook and less time consuming.

This is one such gravy or curry which can be cooked  in minutes.  Also if you prepare the base of the curry and store it in a refrigerator, you can use different beans,potatoes or mixed vegetables or even chicken or meat  with the same base.  Imagine you have the base of the gravy stored in the refrigerator, you wake up late in the morning and got 15 minutes to prepare your lunch box.  Take out this curry base, heat it up for 5 minutes, then add canned beans or cooked beans to the gravy,let it simmer for another 5 minutes.  Your quick curry is ready under 10 minutes,  now you have 5 more minutes to spare for other work.  That sounds good isn't ?

Coming to the recipe, as I already said different pulses,mixed vegetables or potatoes can be added to this gravy.  I prefer adding pulses and today's pulse is Black eye peas. Black eye peas are high in fibre. Since you get the best from the dried ones, I would prefer using the dried one rather than the canned ones.  It's also rich in potassium and iron.  These pulses are also a rich source of protein.  Particularly if you are following a vegetarian diet, it's good to include these pulses in the regular diet to keep up the protein level. Read more about black eye peas from here.  Let's see how to make this simple and easy gravy.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Dried black eye peas- 100 g
Onion- 1 large (roughly blended)
Tomato- 1 medium sized ( pureed)
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
Chilly powder-1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Curry powder or Channa masala powder-1 tsp
Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon- 1/4 inch stick
Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp ( finely chopped )
Lemon juice- juice of 1/2 a lemon
Oil- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
Soak the dried black eye peas overnight or minimum 3-4 hours.  Pressure cook the soaked peas for upto 1 whistle.  Coarsely blend the onions in a blender and keep it separately.  Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan,  add cumin and cinnamon.  Add ginger garlic paste and coarsely ground  onions and saute well.  Once the raw smell goes and slightly brown in colour , add the pureed tomato.  Mix well and stir until you see oil on the sides. At this stage add all the spice powders and mix well.  Cover the pan and cook until oil floats on top.
If you would like to store in a refrigerator,  at this stage take it off from heat,  add the lemon juice, allow it to cool down completely and store it in a glass jar.  This can be kept upto a week in the refrigerator.
To continue with the recipe,  add the cooked peas,stir well.  Cover the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste, chopped coriander and finally lemon juice.  Stir well and take it off from heat.  Serve it warm with breads, roti's or rice.