Black-Eyed Pea Masala With Kale
4.4
(89)
“Black-eyed peas are commonly used across India and go by the names lobia, longi, alasande kalu, and chawli, among others. In Maharashtra, they’re made into usal using fresh coconut and fennel seeds. In the Southern part of India, they’re made into a dry or saucy curry using spiced coconut paste, or soaked and blended into a batter for vadas.
“As a kid in boarding school, I remember not fully appreciating them. They were something I would reach for only when all else failed—the snooze-you-lose-situation in the dining hall. Life came full circle when everyone was hoarding beans at the beginning of the pandemic and I found myself standing in the canned foods aisle, staring at what was left. Here they were rescuing me yet again.
“In this recipe, it’s important to cook the base of the masala until you see it has a jammy texture, at which point it will stick to the bottom of the pan. This ensures your gravy won’t be bitter or watery. You could use other greens, like Swiss chard, collard, or spinach, though you may need to increase or decrease the cook time accordingly.” —Rachel Gurjar
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What you’ll need
8-Inch Chef's Knife
$47 At Amazon
IPOW Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Strainers, Set of 3
$12 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Measuring Cups
$28 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Medium Pot with Lid
$155 At Amazon
Wooden Spoon
$7 At Amazon
Ingredients
4 servings
1
4
1
1
3
¼
2
1
1
½
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Prep your ingredients: Finely chop 1 large white onion. To do this, start by cutting it in half through root end. Trim top, then peel away skin and first tough layer; discard. Leave root end on. Starting close to the board and moving upward, thinly slice through onion parallel to cutting board, leaving root end intact. Make thin lengthwise slices across onion, leaving root end intact. Slice onion crosswise, working from top to bottom to create small cubes. Run your knife through once more if any pieces are too big. You should have 2–3 cups chopped onion.
Step 2
Smash, peel, and finely chop 4 garlic cloves. Peel one 1" piece ginger with a spoon, then slice into planks. Stack 2 planks at a time and cut into thin matchsticks. Set aside. Remove ribs and stems from 1 bunch Tuscan or curly kale and discard. Tear leaves into 2" pieces. Rinse three 15.5-oz. cans black-eyed peas in a fine-mesh sieve.
Step 3
Heat ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Cook onion and garlic, stirring often, until golden, 10–12 minutes.
Step 4
Add 2 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. ground turmeric, 1 tsp. garam masala, and ½ tsp. cayenne powder to pot and cook, stirring constantly, until incorporated and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add one 14.5-oz. can crushed tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring often, until sauce darkens and thickens, 10–14 minutes. The sauce should look jammy and will start to stick to the bottom of the pot.
Step 5
Add black-eyed peas, 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 4 cups water and stir to combine. Add kale in 2 batches, stirring and letting wilt slightly between additions. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until beans are tender and kale is tender, about 10 minutes.
Step 6
Remove pot from heat and stir in reserved ginger.
Step 7
Serve masala with rice, roti, or sourdough bread and lime wedges for squeezing over.
Leave a Review
Reviews (89)
Back to TopNever had black eyed peas before and this looked like a fun one to try. Followed the recipe to the letter aside from swapping out chard for the kale and it was great. I also used black eyed peas I had cooked from dry, 3 jars' worth. I always do 3/4 cup dry beans to make one "can" and it usually works out. As other commenters (and the recipe note) mentioned, you must pay attention to the time and really cook down those tomatoes. I added water cup by cup but it really did need all 4 cups in order to have enough to submerge the greens. I would also suggest ensuring that your spices are fresh. The result was a thick and well seasoned stew which I enjoyed with Malaysian style roti paratha.
haley
oakland, ca
4/5/2023
My wife and I really liked this dish. We are like several other reviewers and are not fond of raw garlic being stirred in at the end, so I sauteed it with the onions and garlic. I did add the 4 cups of water, even though many reviewers thought that it was too much. The dish has plenty of flavor. I served it over brown rice. With all of the water added, we did end up with 6 servings instead of 4. Will definitely be making again.
Tracy H.
Olympia, WA
12/13/2022
I quite enjoyed it.
Thomas Dycus
Washington, DC
1/20/2022
Rather than 4 cups of water, I used 1 cup veg broth and a can of lite coconut milk - that worked great. I also added some coconut aminos at the end. Will make again!
Natalie
RI
1/13/2022
Good spices, but otherwise a little boring.
Anonymous
Boston, MA
1/13/2022
Really good recipe overall. Maybe my Cayenne is extra aggressive because this came out super spicy. I fixed the spiciness by adding 1 can of coconut milk. I also followed the guidance of others here and used much less water. I think the ideal mix would be 12 oz water and 12 oz coconut milk. With those changes, this was delicious.
Ian G
Los Angeles, CA
1/12/2022
This is a flawed recipe but well worth tinkering with. As so many people have stated, 4 cups of water is far too much compared to the recommended cooking time. I only used 1 1/2 cups without even reading the comments because I could tell it was going to be way too much, and even then it only worked because I used ingredients which needed longer cooking. I didn't have black eyed peas or kale so kept the base and used a mix of white beans, green peas, spinach and potato. I finished the dish by stirring in a big dollop of a lovely, complex, green Indian chutney. I didn't use the ginger because I forgot at the beginning and no way was I adding raw ginger further into the cooking process. I served with sourdough because I didn't feel like rice, and a dollop of thick yoghurt and it was excellent. I'll make (my version) again.
Chris
Brisbane, Aus
1/7/2022
This recipe is great. I followed it as written except rather than cutting the ginger into planks, I minced it and added it with the onion and garlic. If you drain and rinse your canned black-eyed peas (as the recipe indicates) and follow the other timings, the 4 c. of water is accurate.
Jeff
Roaring Spring, PA
1/3/2022
I made this for New Years Day with Sea Island Peas and red chard. I finely sliced the chard stems and sautéed them with the onions and garlic. I added the ginger then. The recipe does not seem to say when to add ginger. I used vegetable stock instead of water and heated it to boiling, blanched the chard leaves and then added it to the pea mixture as my tiny peas did not need to cook any longer.
LaDona
1/2/2022
Good dish and I’m glad I read the comments. 1 1/2 cups water was plenty. It is annoying that BA publishes recipes with defects like this one and when readers point out the issues, no correction is made, unlike most other recipe blogs I use like Smitten Kitchen or Cookie and Kate. I know BA has a huge staff, but I guess the editors and authors don’t care about correcting errors. They couldn’t have tested the recipe using 4 cups water and concluded that was a good idea. Also, putting in raw ginger is strange because it is tough so I sautéed it with the onions.
Tina D
Denver , CO
11/9/2021
The end result is good but this recipe is written strangely! I have made this twice and never added any water. I can't imagine why the writer says to do that. Maybe she or he wants you to cook the kale separately. I just added the kale in after the tomatoes. There was enough moisture to steam the kale. I suppose if yours is dry you could had half a cup of water. Also why does the recipe go into great detail about how to chop an onion? Weird. Finally, I don't understand what you're supposed to do with the ginger -- eat it raw alongside the dish? What?!?! If you use common sense and make this in a sensible way, it's good.
Anonymous
Richmond, Virginia
10/18/2021
Regarding printing recipes: open a Word doc then copy and paste the recipe into the doc. Having done that, you can edit, make notes, change fonts and anything you want - the world is yours!
Anonymous
Big Bend of Texas
7/20/2021
This was delicious and so easy! Like other reviewers, I reduced the water to 3 cups. We like a thicker sauce so that suited us well. You could probably even do 2 or 2.5 depending on your preference. I agree with another reviewer that the servings are closer to 6. We had it for dinner last night (2 servings) and I expect we'll get at least 2 lunches each from it for a total of 6. Just a note so you can plan accordingly. All in all though, amazing recipe that's easy, vegetarian, filling, and delicious!
Anonymous
chicago, il
2/9/2021
When you have a recipe using canned beans (in this case, black eyed peas) please include the equivalent for dried beans.
Paul Axinn
Tucson AZ
2/9/2021
Sooo good. It’s sweet and spicy and aromatic and soooo good. I had dried black eyed peas, so I rinsed and cooked those first and it was perfect!
Caila
Napa, CA
2/4/2021