Eat Your Curried Green Peas
Eat Your Curried Green Peas turns fresh peas into a complete curry with onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala. The peas remain the main ingredient rather than a garnish.
The sauce is built first by cooking the aromatics and dry spices, then softening the tomatoes and tomato purée. Only after that base is ready are the peas and water added.
Lemon juice is stirred in at the end, followed by garam masala and cilantro. Paneer can be added as a variation, while the base recipe below keeps the focus on the peas.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon good oil
- 1/2 cup onions, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups tomatoes, diced with their juices
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
- 4 cups fresh green peas
- 1 cup water
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for garnish
Method
Heat the oil in a pot over high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger, reduce to medium, and sauté until the onions are golden, about 3–5 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, salt, and 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro and cook about 5 minutes until the tomatoes soften. Stir in the peas and water, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer about 10 minutes until the peas are done. Adjust the salt, stir in the lemon juice, then finish with garam masala and the remaining cilantro. Makes 4 servings.