By Shreya Sarpal
May 1, 2025
Kadala Curry is a delicious South Indian dish made with black chick peas and cooked in a coconut-based gravy. It’s a staple Kerala cuisine dish, served with appam, puttu or idiyappam.
1 cup black chickpeas (soaked overnight) ½ cup grated coconut 1 tbsp coriander seeds ½ tsp fennel seeds 2-3 dried red chillies 1 sprig curry leaves 1 tsp mustard seeds 2 chopped onions 2 chopped tomatoes 2 slit green chilies 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp tamarind pulp ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp red chilli powder ½ tsp garam masala 3 tbsp coconut oil Salt: As needed
Pressure cook black chickpeas until they turn soft.
Take a pan and roast grated coconut, coriander seeds, dried chillies, fennel seeds, and a few curry leaves, then grind them into a paste.
Heat coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves, then add onions, green chillies, ginger-garlic paste, and tomatoes, cooking until the mixture turns mushy.
Mix the cooked chickpeas, coconut paste, tamarind pulp, turmeric, chilli powder, and garam masala and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Heat some more coconut oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chilli, and pour them over the curry.