Red Gram/ Brown Bean stir-fry (Vanpayar Ularthiyathu)

Red Gram/ Brown Bean stir-fry OR Vanpayar Ularthiyathu is the classic Kerala comfort food. The ‘brown beans’ (red cow peas / red gram / ‘red chawli’) are used here. You can also prepare black-eyed peas the same way. This ‘Brown Bean and Shallots Mash’ is great with Porridge or Rice.

Red Gram/ Brown Bean stir-fry (Vanpayar Ularthiyathu)

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♦Prep time:  15 min ♦Cook time: 20 min Total time:  35  min plus soaking time Yield: (3-4 servings)

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I use a pressure cooker, so soaking time is only 20-30 minutes in warm water. If you are cooking without a pressure cooker, I suggest soaking it in cool water for 2-3 hours.

EAT AND TELL!!! Let us know if you tried –  Red Gram/ Brown Bean stir-fry (Vanpayar Ularthiyathu)

Red Gram/ Brown Bean stir-fry (Vanpayar Ularthiyathu)

Author: Shana Shameer

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 15 mins Cook Time 20 mins Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings: 4

Description

Red Gram or Red Cow Peas (Vanpayar, in Malayalam), is pre-cooked, and then sauteed and mashed along with golden shallots and dry chilli. This is a popular comfort food in Kerala, often served with Porridge (Kanji)

Ingredients:

Servings

• 1 cup Brown beans / Vanpayar (1 cup = 240 ml measure)
• ¹⁄₃ cup Shallots,sliced (plus another 5 shallots, for crushing)
• 6 cloves Garlic (smaller variety – if unavailable use 3 of the larger garlic cloves)
• ¹⁄₄ tsp Black peppercorns
• 3 mild dried Red chillies
• 1-2 sprigs Curry leaves
• 4 Tbsp Coconut oil (or oil of preference)
• ¹⁄₄-¹⁄₂ tsp Mustard seeds
• Salt (to taste)

Instructions

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1. Soak the rinsed beans in warm water till slightly bigger in size,  20 - 30 minutes.
2. Add to a small pressure cooker and cover with water. Add about 1 tsp salt and cook on high till steam escapes. Then lower the heat and cook for 11 minutes.( If soaked for longer periods (3hrs-overnight), cooking for 3 steam whistles is sufficient).
3. Cool the cooker and open it. Check that the beans are cooked tender and can be mashed with applied pressure. Do not cook longer or the beans will be overly mashed.
4. Add 5 shallots, garlic, black pepper, and dried chilli to a mortar and crush to a coarse paste.
5. Slice the remaining shallots and set them aside.
6. Heat the coconut oil in a heavy wok and add mustard seeds.
7. When the mustard seeds crackle, add the sliced shallots and curry leaves. Sauté till soft.
8. Add the crushed ingredients and cook, stirring till the raw smell of garlic dissipates.
9. Add the cooked and drained beans. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid.
10. Stir on medium heat, adding a little salt to taste.  Mash lightly in the sautéed ingredients.
11. Once the beans are uniformly seasoned and mashed lightly, return the cooking liquid.
12. Cover and cook on low heat till the liquid evaporates, but beans remain moist.
13. Remove from heat. Add a tsp of coconut and stir through the hot mixture.
14. Keep covered till
15. I like to serve with: Ulliyum Mulagu Chamanthi(crispy fried chilli shallot topping)  and Thenga Chamanthi (dry coconut chutney) -

Note

• If you are soaking overnight or more than three hours, soaking in room temperature water is sufficient. I usually forget to soak ahead of time, so I soak in hot water for 1 hour and that works fine as well.
• Key Ingredients: Red Beans, Shallots, Garlic, Oil,Curry Leaves, Mustard seeds, Salt, Pepper.

Keywords: Vanpayar ularthiyathu, red gram ularthu, vanpayar ularthu, brown bean stir-fry