Sprouted Cowpeas Stew (Chawli Kokum Chi Dal)

When I started buying cookbooks (with my money), I didn't think too much about the content. It didn't even matter if the book had only 3 vegetarian recipes and once I was done making those, I was practically done using that book. But soon I realized that it's not just buying books, I should also use them to make them worth the buy. Since then almost all the books I bought are vegetarian oriented except for "660 Curries" by Raghavan Iyer.

I borrowed this book from the library and after seeing the vast selection of recipes, I bought my own copy from Amazon. I made a ton of recipes and except for one disastrous recipe with broccoli, everything turned out excellent. So for Day 6 of our BM#7, I made Sprouted cow peas (chawli) stewed in coconut milk and kokum. Recipe turned out to be another keeper, slightly sweet from the coconut milk and tangy from the kokum. 

Ingredients:

Red Cowpeas (Chawli) - 3 cups, sprouted

Red onion - 1 medium, finely chopped

Garlic - 4 cloves, finely minced

Green chilies - 4, finely chopped

Turmeric - ½tsp

Coconut milk - 1 13.5 can
Black kokum* - 6 pieces (roughly 2" x 1" piece)
Boiling water - ¼ cup
Ground cumin & coriander - ½tsp
Cilantro - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a medium-size saucepan. Add onions, garlic and chilies,sauté until the mixture is light borwn, 5 - 7 minutes.
• Add the cowpeas and turmeric, gently mix to coat sprouts with the onion mixture. 
• Next pour in the coconut milk and add the salt, let the mixture come to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook covered until the sprouts are firm-tender and the sauce is thick, about 15 - 20 minutes.
• While the cowpeas are cooking, add hot water to kokum and let it steep until the water turns darker, about 15 minutes. Discard kokum pieces.
• Fold the kokum water and the ground spices into the curry, cook for another 2 minutes.
• Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rice or roti.

* If you don't have Kokum, use tamarind extract instead.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking for Day 6 of our BM#7.