Coconut black-eyed pea curry
Tender black-eyed peas and spinach in a gently spiced coconut sauce with ginger and lime, a creamy, cozy curry that comes together in one pan in half an hour.
- 30 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.34 a serving
- 350 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 2 cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
- 1 package baby spinach
- 1 lime, halved
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ¼ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp salt
Each serving has about 350 calories, 13 g protein, 41 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.34 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a large with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, 7 to 8 minutes, until .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute.
Medium heat
Add the curry powder, turmeric, cayenne and tomato paste and stir 1 minute, until the paste darkens and smells toasty.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Cooking the spices in the oil first is called blooming. It makes them taste twice as strong.Stir in the coconut milk, water, black-eyed peas and salt and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
uncovered 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Add the spinach a handful at a time, stirring until it , about 2 minutes.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Medium heat
Squeeze in half the lime, taste for salt, and serve with cilantro, lime wedges, and rice if you have some.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
