Two Recipes of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans

Two Recipes of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans

Today it is T for BlogchtterA2Z2023 From the plant to my plate; can it get fresher than this? I am enjoying growing and cooking my fresh, delicious, healthy organic vegetables. Sustainable agriculture, even in the smallest urban settings, is actually possible. Today I just walked into the garden and plucked these flat beans or Broad Beans or chikkudkaya as we call them. Eating fresh vegetables when you’re a single person to eat is good in a wicked way, as you are the lucky person to gobble up all that goodness. I am kidding totally/nothing can beat the pleasure of sharing. I keep distributing all my veggies. Here are Two Recipes of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans.

If you snip and pluck what you need when you need it, then the freshness is as abundant as can be. The taste is way more delicious than anything you could buy at the grocery and of course, there is always that heavenly aroma of fresh vegetables filling the kitchen as you prepare your meals, which you then tuck into happily, knowing that not only did you grow them yourself but they are as healthy as can be.

Broad beans are a superb source of protein and fibre. They fulfil all the norms of healthy eating. They are also rich in folate and B vitamins, needed for nerve and blood cell development, cognitive function and energy. Being a vegetarian, they are an inexpensive source of lean protein for me.

I make broad beans and potato curry which is the next recipe, but I have eaten this broad beans and peanut curry at South Indian weddings which is really very delicious and I wanted to try it out at home. South Indian weddings usually have sit-down meals and they have an array of dishes, from spicy pickles to various veggies, sambar, rasam, Ulava charu ( horse gram rasam) finishing with thick creamy curds.

The prep time is more but the actual cooking time is not much so do try making this awesomely tasty dish.

INGREDIENTS

250gms Broad Beans or Chikkudkaya

2 tbsp Oil

2 tbsp peanuts

½ tsp chana dal or split chickpeas

¼ tsp mustard seeds

2 dry red chillies

2 green chillies

1 onion chopped fine

Few curry leaves

Salt to taste

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

Fresh coriander leaves

For the masala powder

4 tbsps roasted chickpeas dal

½ tsp jeera

1 tsp coriander seeds

5 cloves garlic

METHOD

First, string the beans and chop them into two pieces. Boil in hot water for a few minutes, drain and keep aside.

Next, on a griddle, roast the cumin, and coriander till the aroma wafts in the air and make a coarse powder in the mixer with the roasted chickpea dal and garlic. Keep aside.

Now, heat the oil in a wok and fry the peanuts until crisp. Remove and set aside. In the same oil, add the chana dal, red chillies, mustard seeds, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute till they splutter and add the finely chopped onion to pink.

Next, add the powder and roast for a couple of minutes. Add the salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. The aroma from the roasted dal, coriander and cumin seeds and the garlic is heady. Now add the boiled broad beans and sauté till all the spices mix nicely. Just before removing from the fire, add the fried peanuts, which add the much-loved crunch to this remarkably flavorful dish.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with lots of fresh coriander leaves. Serve this Broad Beans or Chikkudkaya Vepudu with steamed rice or roti and savour every mouthful.

Recipe 2 of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans

Two Recipes of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans

I like seasonal vegetables and eat simple fare. What could be simpler than Two Recipes of Chikkudkaaya or Broad Beans Curry with roti or rice? Broad beans have many monikers as the broad bean. You may know them as fava bean, field bean, bell bean, English bean, horse bean, Windsor bean, pigeon bean and tic(k) bean. In North India, we know them as Sem ki phalli and in my hometown; we know them as Chikkudakaya.

Benefits of this Super Bean

Anyway, a bean with any name will still be a bean!! And these beans are meaty and flavorful enough to be served on the dining table. They have a good dose of protein, fibre, potassium and energy-providing B vitamins. These beans are available only in the winter in India. There are different varieties of them; some thin and without beans in them, some shorter and full of beans, and light or dark green.

I think they look beautiful with their green sheen and kidney-shaped beans and comely curves. They sell them as whole green beans or even just bean pods. They are meatier, wider and much tastier than ordinary green beans.  Broad beans are healthy and when you bite through their silky skin into their sweetly leguminous crunchy centre, you’ll realise their true worth. They’re best when they are fresh and tender or else they feel rubbery and tasteless.

Most people make Sem Aloo ki sabzi or broad beans curry as a side dish, but for me, it is a very simple but nutritious main dish. I make it with potatoes which enhance their taste. They have an earthy flavour and a more prominent, beany taste. String the beans before chopping as they have hard fibrous edges. We usually chop Sem beans into small pieces and cooked with potatoes with very few spices, but still taste delicious. But in Andhra, we cook them whole, after blanching and then we temper them.

Recipe for Sem Ki Phalli Ki Sabzi or Broad Beans Curry

Ingredients:

½ kg Sem or broad beans

4 small potatoes cubed

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 slit green chillies

Few curry leaves

½ Teaspoon red chilli powder

½   Teaspoon turmeric powder

1    Tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt  to  taste

Coriander to garnish

Method

1. Wash the beans and string them before chopping.

Chop the Beans into small pieces. I used baby potatoes and quartered them.

Add 1 tablespoon oil in a non-stick frying pan or heavy-bottomed skillet add the cumin seeds and once they splutter add the green chillies and curry leaves. (yes curry leaves as I cannot get rid of my South Indian roots )

Add chopped beans, and chopped potatoes sauté and cook on simmer for 20 minutes or until beans become tender but firm. Add the turmeric and chilli powder. Cover with a lid.

Keep stirring every few minutes. Add the salt when almost cooked. If required, sprinkle a little water as the beans don’t cook easily.

I do not add any other spices as I like to keep the natural flavour and taste of the beans. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and your Sem ki sabzi or broad beans curry is ready to eat.

Serve it with paratha, roti, or rice. I had my lunch with this tasty Sem Ki Phalli Ki Sabzi or Broad Beans Curry accompanied by a garden fresh mint chutney and roti washed down with a glass of masala buttermilk.

A2Z

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6. Bread pakora or Fritters
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9. Stuffed Potato Idli
10. Orange Souffle in a Jiffy
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14. Nutritious Mullakada
15. Organic Yardlong Beans Curry
16. Veg Potato & Corn Sizzler
17. Kale Mushroom Quiche Cups
18. Rainbow Rice or Pulao
19. Scrumptious Tehri or Veg Pulao
20. Two recipes of Chikkudkaya
21. Ultra creamy custard with mango
22. Velvety Mutter Paneer Curry
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24. Xtra Roasted Baby Potatoes
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