Black-Eyed Peas with Roasted Tomato Sauce

 

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This warm and fragrant pot of legume was our weeknight meal; quite flavorful, and also easy to make.

 

Legume is one of the principal foods of the Indian subcontinent. Some kind of it is included in almost every meal. It also belongs to our list of comfort food.  One side of dal/daal or some kind of curried beans with rice or roti or any flat bread along with a salad and perhaps some yogurt is what I would like to call a humble Indian meal.

 

black-eyed peas diptych 2

 

The roasted tomato sauce came out of sheer boredom.

 

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I had to break that monotony of frying onions and cooking down tomatoes that I always do; something different needed to be done at that moment.

 

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A lot of impulsive moments make my time in the kitchen fun and memorable. Some days I have not wanted to walk into the kitchen for the entire day and then all of a sudden as dinner time approaches, something triggers in me to cook up a big meal, probably played my own desires and appetite. Often it is just a calm, comfort meal, but sometimes it is also a fancy spread. During these times, even with the little time I have in hand, there is no frenzy; I work with cool composure resulting in a good, hearty meal. And I wish that I could gather up this calm while I am cooking for a party!

 

Roasted Tomato Sauce Diptych 1

 

These are in my own records the time I have genuinely enjoyed cooking. I am not sure why. I have no reasons and do not have words to describe the feeling. Pressed by time, these are also the times when some of the good flavors and combinations come to life.

The roasted tomatoes were fabulous and once I blended them with garlic, it tasted like a good salsa. And I think with a little change and adaptation, would qualify as an anytime sauce (may be with pasta or rice?) or even a dip. But the sauce went in making a very Indian black eyed pea curry and saved me the trouble of standing there and stirring down the tomatoes.

 

“Black-Eyed Pea” is also known as Cow Peas. They are very popular in the Indian subcontinent, Spain, Mexico, Africa and also makes an important part of the cuisine in the southern regions of America.

 

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The roasted tomatoes did not make too much difference other than a subtle smoky aroma. The black-eyed peas tasted similar to what it would be like if I had cooked the tomatoes in the pan. But it did save me a little bit of work and also I know now that I have more uses for a tomato sauce.

 

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 Black-Eyed Peas with Roasted Tomato Sauce

Ingredients: (serves 4)

  1. 1.5 cups dry/uncooked black eyed peas
  2. 2 really big tomatoes (2.5 cups quartered – of an 8 oz cup)
  3. 1 small onion (3/4 cup quartered) – (optional)
  4. sea salt to sprinkle on the tomatoes and onion while roasting
  5. freshly ground black pepper
  6. some olive oil to drizzle the tomatoes with
  7. 1 tablespoon chopped garlic cloves
  8. 1.5 tablespoon ghee /or oil
  9. some red crushed pepper
  10. a generous pinch of hing/asafoedtida
  11. 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  12. 1 green hot pepper, like Thai bird
  13. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  14. salt to taste
  15. a tiny bit of sugar if you need (if the fresh tomatoes are tart, you would need some sugar to balance out the taste)
  16. 1/2 tablespoon julienned ginger
  17. fresh herbs of your choice
  18. fresh lemon juice – optional

 

Method:

 

Soak the dried beans for about 4 hours or overnight. Wash and drain.

Half or quarter the tomatoes depending how big they are. Quarter the onions. Toss onion, and tomato with some olive oil, and coarse salt/sea salt and black pepper. Place onion and tomato in a single layer in a baking tray and bake at 410F  for 30 – 45 minutes or until the tomatoes are reduced and a bit charred.

Cool and remove the charred outer skin of the tomatoes; puree the roasted vegetables along with the chopped garlic cloves. (with slight adjustments, this makes  a fantastic salsa when pulsed in chunks).  Set aside.

Heat ghee /oil in a pot or a pressure cooker. Add the hing/asafoetida and then the cumin seeds along with the green chili pepper and red crushed pepper. When the cumin seeds sizzle and the crushed pepper turns dark (this adds a nice smoky flavor), add half the julienned ginger and then the beans and the sauce. Add salt (remember that the roasted sauce already has some salt) and the turmeric powder, toss for the beans to be coated with the sauce. Cook for about 10 minutes at medium heat, while stirring and tossing. You will see the oil/ghee separating from the sides.

Add about 3 cups of water or more if you want it soupy, and cover and cook. Follow instructions of pressure cooker if you are using one. Cook until the beans are tender and almost mushy but have not lost their shape.  It takes me about 12-15 minutes in the pressure cooker. It will take longer if you are not using a pressure cooker.

Once done adjust salt and sugar. Garnish with fresh herbs, rest of the ginger and a drizzle of fresh lemon juice if you want.

Serve with bread/flat bread.

 

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes baking time + 30 minutes cooking time

Difficulty Level: Easy

Serves: 4

 

 

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12 comments to Black-Eyed Peas with Roasted Tomato Sauce

  • A wonderful dish. I love the fact that the sauce is made with raosted tomatoes.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  • Looks yum! Loved the idea of using roasted tomatoes 🙂

  • very nice recipe..lovely pics

  • Roasting gives such lovely, smoky taste to the tomatoes and I, personally can gorge over any roasted vegetable just with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and olive oil. :D. I am the only one in my household who love black eyed peas and am going to make this for sure. THAT sauce has so many uses. I would love to eat it as a dip with my pita chips!

    Siri

  • Dany

    I like the way the Black Eye Peas has been cooked and with the tomato sauce, I think it is going to taste very nice. I am going to try it during the week-end. Thank U for those wonderful peas recipes, that’s make my days.

  • It looks like a great recipe! Can’t wait to try it out myself! Thanks for posting it!

  • Doris

    Hi,this sounds great. I will be cooking it in the oven… What temp. and how long should I bake?

    I have never cooked beans in the oven. Not sure if I can be of any help here!! If you have cooked beans before in the oven, then use the same temperature. But you would have to watch the cooking time. Black-eyed peas cook faster than a lot of other beans, like kidney beans etc.

  • The roasted tomatoes & garlic are so important.
    This looks gorgeous. It’s on my menu for this w/end!

  • I’d probably eat all of the roasted tomatoes and onions before they made it into the rest of the ingredients. This does sound so wonderful though! Maybe I’ll have to exercise some restraint and try to make this with all of the tomatoes and onions included

  • I love the healthy, filling expectations in this recipe. It looks so good.

  • My hubby loved black eyed peas, i have a whole unopened pack in my pantry…got to try with this roasted tomaoto combination, sounds great!

    Even most of my best dishes comes out of impulse cooking at the last moment…strangely it almost always works, mayb coz that’s the time we (or I) put our heart n soul into the food, rather than making it for just another lunch or dinner 😉

    Luv,
    Manju

  • […] hoping for inspiration. Then, I’d noticed a recipe on here recently for blackeye beans or black-eyed peas with roasted tomato sauce, one of the few beans I never use as I’ve never known what to do with them. And I certainly […]

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