Turichya ghugrya / तुरीच्या घुगऱ्या aka whole pigeon peas or whole toor beans with pearl millet flatbread / बाज़रीची भाकरी is a winter staple where I grew up in India and a meal I fondly remember having at my grandparents’, all of whom were farmers. They knew their food way better than I do today. I cook this ‘gavran’ indigenous country-style curry of whole pigeon peas using minimal spices, just as my grandmothers (both paternal and maternal) did. I am always amazed at how mindfully and healthily our older generations ate. They cooked seasonal produce with just the right spices. They followed a sustainable lifestyle and embraced minimalism before such terms were even coined. Sustainability is truly rooted in my Indian heritage.
As I said, this curry is cooked with minimal ingredients. The stars of this dish truly are the whole pigeon peas and my ancestors have taught me how to bring the best out of this legume with this curry. This recipe allows the inherent flavours of each ingredient to shine through. I have seen both my grandmothers and mum cook it this way. So during my last visit to India, when I was handed some freshly milled homegrown pearl millet flour and whole pigeon peas from our farm, I knew exactly what I would cook with it when I got home to England.
Of course, my grandmothers didn’t cook this curry in a pressure cooker and neither did they use Kashmiri red chilli powder. They would have added their own homegrown sun-dried red chilli powder, nothing so fancy as the vibrant Kashmiri red I pick from my grocers, but not lacking in flavour or spice. And for the sake of convenience, I have used a pressure cooker to avoid having to cook the whole beans for an hour.
Turichya Ghugrya / Whole Pigeon Pea curry
Course: MainCuisine: Maharashtrian, IndianDifficulty: Easy5
servings15
minutes25
minutes40
minutesIngredients
260g (1 cup) whole pigeon peas or toor beans
475ml (2 cups) hot water for a pressure cooker or 675ml (3 cups) for an Instant Pot
4 tbsp veg oil
2 tbsp roasted and ground peanut
2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
5 cloves of garlic hand-pound into a paste
2 tbsp salt or to taste
25g chopped coriander to garnish
Directions
- Pressure cooker method
- Wash the whole pigeon peas thoroughly. Soak overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours in lukewarm water.
- Pressure cook the peas with the water and salt for 4 whistles.
- Meanwhile, Prepare a masala by mixing the roasted ground peanut, red chilli powder and garlic paste by hand.
- Over a medium flame, tip the oil into a deep heavy-bottomed pan. Fry the masala prepared in step 2 until lightly cooked.
- Ladle the cooked peas slowly into the pan and adjust the consistency with the leftover water from the pressure cooker.
- Bring the curry to a boil with the lid on for a couple of minutes. Adjust the seasoning, then simmer gently for 5-6 minutes. Enjoy warm with roti, rice, chapati or millet flatbread of your choice.
- Instant Pot method
- Wash the whole pigeon peas thoroughly. Soak overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours in lukewarm water.
- Prepare a masala by mixing the roasted ground peanut, red chilli powder and garlic paste by hand.
- Turn your Instant Pot on in sauté mode on high setting to heat the oil. Tip in the masala prepared in step 2 and fry until just cooked.
- Ladle in the soaked peas. Then, add the hot water. Adjust the seasoning.
- Change the Instant Pot mode to pressure cook on high. Set the timer to cook for 15 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealed position.
- Allow the pressure to release slowly before opening the lid. Sprinkle some chopped coriander to garnish and serve warm with a millet flatbread or your choice or steamed rice.
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