Yellow-Eyed Pea Sundal: Tamil Nadu Spiced Legume Snack
- Total Time: 33 mins
- Yield: 3
Description
Soak the peas over night and the next day it’ll be quick and easy to whip up the protein-packed snack.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) Yellow eyed peas
- 1 carrot chopped (approximately 1/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) onion chopped
- 2 cup (480 ml) Water
- 1 tsp Urad dal/ Split black gr
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 1/2 tbsp of grated coconut
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1 Red chili
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
Instructions
- Soak the yellow eyed pea overnight and next day pressures cook them with 2 cup of water. Until 4 -5 whistle or 25 minutes. Drain the excess water using a colander and set aside
- In a small skillet, heat olive oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, halved red chilies. When mustard seeds start popping add onion and carrot and cook for 2 minutes. Then add cooked yellow eyed peas, grated coconut and cumin, chili powder and salt. Mix everything and serve warm.
- Prep Time: 8 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: South Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 150
Sundal is a warm bean snack from Tamil Nadu, at the southern end of India, and it's a dish that honestly reads too plain on paper to bother with. Boiled peas, a spoon of coconut, a few spices. How good can that be… ? Then you eat a bowl of it standing at the counter and you fall in love with it.
This version uses yellow-eyed peas, which are the pale cousins of black-eyed peas and cook roughly the same way. Soak them overnight, then pressure cook them with two cups of water for four or five whistles, about twenty-five minutes, and drain them properly. Forgot to soak, or no time to? Any cooked bean out of a can is a completely respectable shortcut. I won't tell.
Once you're set up, get going with warm oil, mustard seeds, a teaspoon of urad dal and a halved dried red chili. Urad dal is split black gram, a little lentil that fries to gold and goes nutty, and it is there for crunch as much as flavor. Wait for the mustard seeds to start popping, then in go chopped onion and carrot for two minutes.
Tip the cooked peas in after that, with grated coconut, cumin powder, red chili powder and salt, and turn everything over until it is coated.
Eat it warm, from a bowl, with your fingers if nobody is watching. It is high protein, it takes four minutes of work, and it is delicious.
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
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- Rava (Khara) Bath Recipe: Perfecting the South Indian Breakfast Classic
- Daal Poori: Lentil Stuffed Deep Fried Indian Bread
- Tikka Masala Spiced Chickpeas and Cauliflower
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do the yellow eyed peas need to soak overnight before cooking?
Soaking softens the dried peas so they pressure-cook evenly. The next day, cook the soaked peas with 2 cups of water for 4–5 whistles (about 25 minutes) in a pressure cooker to achieve the right tender texture before the tempering step.
What is urad dal and what does it do in this recipe?
Urad dal (split black gram) is a small lentil used here in the tempering. One teaspoon is fried in olive oil along with mustard seeds and red chili — it turns golden and adds a nutty, slightly earthy crunch to the seasoning base before the onion and carrot are added.
