Cooking with What You Have - Black-Eyed Pea Curry
Healthy Tips from Dr. Mom:
Like other cooking methods, pressure cooking can cause the deterioration of heat sensitive vitamins, phytonutrients, and polyunsaturated fats. However, it is cooking under high heat for shorter period so there is less of an oxidative chemical reaction.
Pressure cooking has positive effects on grains and legumes. It makes the protein, starch and fiber bio-available for digestion in the gut.
The excitement of the holidays is over and everyone is back to their routines. Here in Michigan we are having a brutal winter this year with bone chilling cold and shorter days. While I am looking for ways not to go outdoors, my daughter tells me how refreshing the cold air feels on her skin. Anyways, I have been relying upon a variety of frozen vegetables and beans to minimize grocery shopping and my instant pot has become my new best friend.
My husband got the winter virus and so I opened up the pantry looking to make him something warm for his throat and found black-eyed peas. I also found some colorful bell peppers in the fridge, so I put it all together and made this curry and he really enjoyed it! Then, I took the leftovers to work, and my friend loved it and asked me to post it. Enjoy!
Black-Eyed Pea Curry
Total Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup black-eyed peas, soaked and drained
2 tbsp oil
1 Fresno pepper, diced (optional)
1 bay leaf
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1 inch ginger, crushed
1 tbsp curry powder
Pinch of black pepper
Salt, to taste
Chili powder, to taste
Directions:
Add oil, bay leaf, cinnamon, and ginger to instant pot on saute mode.
Add diced peppers and onion to pot and stir for 1-2 minutes, until vegetables start to soften.
Add drained black-eyed peas, crushed tomatoes, curry powder, pepper, and water.
Cover the instant pot and change setting to manual for 12 minutes with pressure vent closed.
Once finished, naturally release pressure and let sit for 15 minutes.
Remove cover and return setting to saute for 2-5 minutes, until sauce thickens. Turn off intant pot and serve with hot roti or brown rice.
Extra Tips:
If you don’t have time to soak the peas, you can add dry peas to the instant pot directly and use the lentil setting for a longer cooking time.
Instead of crushed tomatoes, I used my home made tomato sauce that I froze in the summer. You can use crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce.
I like Fresno peppers with tomatoes as they have a tangy taste that complements tomato recipes. They have about the same spice level as jalapeños and can be replaced with pepper flakes, if you're in a pinch.
If you don't have an instant pot, you can pressure cook the peas and then add them to the sauteed vegetables, but you will have to stir the mixture until finished. Plus, with an instant pot, you won't have as many dishes!