This recipe is my mother-in-law’s recipe. My in-laws eat no onion no garlic recipes (jain recipes) most of the time. Hence this is vegan and no onion no garlic recipe. This chawli curry is so delicious that you will not miss any onion-garlic flavors at all. This lobia recipe is very quick to make as there is no chopping required. Boil the lobia, then make the besan gravy and mix the cooked lobia in the gravy. It is that simple. Gravy can be ready in only 10 minutes if you have pressure cooked the beans ahead of time. Today I am sharing Gujarati way of making lobia curry. For Punjabi style lobia curry, it has gravy made from tomatoes. But in this recipe, the gravy is made from besan aka gram flour with some spices. There is similar gravy recipe on the blog – kala chana recipe I usually make this black eyed peas curry with Gujarati Kadhi and plain rice. In my family, whenever they make Kadhi, we usually make one dish made from beans to go with it. Do you know the reason? You have to take enough portion of protein in your everyday diet. You will usually get from everyday dal (for Indian vegetarians). But when you make kadhi in place of dal, from where do you get protein? You got it right, that side dish we made from beans will give you that needed protein. Not only for the health reason, it also tastes heavenly delicious when you pair this beans and kadhi with rice. If you have not tried it, try it once. I know you will like this.

Step By Step Photo Instructions:

  1. Wash black eyed peas under running cold water till water runs clear. Take them in a pressure cooker. Add 2 ½ cups of water.
  2. Close the pressure cooker and put the weight on. Let it cook for 1 whistle on high heat, then 20 minutes on medium-low heat. Then turn off the stove and let the pressure go down by itself and open the cover. NOTE:

Sometimes I forgot to soak the beans, so I pressure cook it for longer time. If you have time, please soak them in enough water for at least 1 hour, then reduce the pressure cooking time to 20 minutes only. Even you can soak them for 4-5 hours, if so then you need to cook it for 10 minutes only.So the bottom line is, adjust the cooking time and soaking time accordingly.

  1. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds. Let them sizzle.
  2. Then add curry leaves. Cook for 30 seconds.
  3. Then add besan. Roast it for 2 minute with stirring continuously. You will get nice nutty aroma of roasted gram flour.
  4. Then add ½ cup of water and make smooth paste.
  5. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt.
  6. Mix it well and cook for a minute. (If it is sticking to the pan then add some more water.)
  7. Add cooked lobia with its water.
  8. Mix it well.
  9. Add tamarind paste and jaggery.
  10. Mix it well. If needed add some more water to adjust the consistency as per your liking. And let it boil for 4-5 minutes.
  11. Switch off the gas heat. Finally add chopped cilantro.
  12. Mix well. And serve hot. As this cools, the gravy will become really thick because of the besan in it. So if planning to serve after 20-30 minutes or hour then keep the gravy thin. So by the time of serving it gets to the right consistency. Reheat right before serving. Serving suggestion: this lobia recipe can be served with roti, paratha or rice. In my family we like this combination – this lobia curry as a side with gujarati kadhi and plain rice. Try it this way, you will love it. Did you try this gujarati chawli curry recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.

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