Easy South Indian Style Vegan Coconut Curry with Black Eyed Peas Posted by Kristi Hamilton on August 31, 2010 · 6 Comments

To me, Indian food is one of the easiest things to veganize without losing that delicious, rich flavor. Don’t get me wrong, I love saag paneer, tandoori chicken, and chicken tikka masala more than pretty much anything edible that you can imagine. However, after a work week of eating fast and cheap, my body longs for something nourishing and flavorful that won’t put me into an artery-clogging food coma. This creamy curry is my favorite dish to make when I’ve maxed out my calories for the day but I’m craving comfort food.

On top of being healthy and cruelty free, this is a simple and inexpensive dish to make. The only part of this recipe that is time-consuming is browning the onions. Otherwise, it’s a quick and easy and sure to impress.

I’d like to discourage you from using store-bought curry powder. While I have used some mixes that are decent, I think it is far more rewarding to be able to make your own spice blends and pastes. This also allows you to discover which spice adds what flavor, which leads the curious to becoming better cooks. In the future I plan on focusing on the individual spices in curries from different regions and the flavors each one lends to the dish, but for now I want to keep it simple. So this recipe really only needs a fraction of what you would normally use in a curry because of the fact that we are using garam masala. It’s a blend of many of the spices frequently used in Indian recipes. You can mix garam masala from whole, individual spices, and many families in India have their own variations. Pre-mixed garam Masala can be found at many specialty and ethnic grocers as well as ordered online for those of you who live in smaller towns. You might also check out the spice sections of the places you normally frequent, as I found my last jar at Wal-Mart for under 5$, if you can believe it.

Ingredients

1/4 c oil

2 medium-sized onions, finely sliced.

1″ piece of fresh ginger root, grated.

3-4 cloves garlic

1 tsp turmeric

2 small green chilis, stem removed and halved. (I buy the tiny little Thai ones by the pound at the Asian market, they work perfect in Indian food)

3 tsp garam masala

1 container of button mushrooms wiped clean and halved.

1 can of black-eyed peas, drained.

1 bunch of fresh spinach (you can also a bag of the pre-washed kind sold as salad)

1 14oz can of coconut milk

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add in the onions, and fry until browned. Add ginger, garlic, chilies, turmeric, and garam masala. Stir until the spices are thoroughly mixed in.

Begin adding in the spinach, mushrooms, and black-eyed peas. Pour in 1 cup of water, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Turn down the heat and add in the can of coconut milk. You may now add a teaspoon of salt if you so desire.

Cook for about five more minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve over rice.

Enjoy.