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    Home » Recipes » South Indian

    Kadala Curry Recipe

    Published: Jan 27, 2016 · Modified: Aug 24, 2023 by Famidha Ashraf with 1 Comment

    Jump to Recipe

    My best Kerala Kadala curry recipe which I proudly claim as 'better than mom's' curry. Boiled black chickpeas in a flavourful spicy onion-tomato gravy enriched with ground coconut paste.

    kadala curry with roasted coconut

    Just like appam and ishthu, dosa and chutney, Puttu Kadala curry are match made in food heaven. This black chickpeas curry is so easy to prepare and can be made ahead too. Though the husband loves to have this only with puttu, my mom loves to serve this Kerala style kadala curry with chapati, rice or even ari dosha.

    Jump to:
    • Better than Mom's Curry
    • Ingredients and Substitutions
    • Instructions
    • Equipment
    • Storage
    • Related
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Better than Mom's Curry

    I am sharing my version of Kadala Curry because it took me several bad batches before striking gold. Even my mom's recipe is not my favourite. I boldly state this as Better than Mom's Kadala Curry! You will agree when you make this like many of my readers already do.

    I like my curry to be thick and together not thin where the Kadala refuses to marry the curry. I have made this version of Kadala curry umpteen times and since then F is more open to having Puttu Kadala for a weekend breakfast.

    Ingredients and Substitutions

    • black chickpeas: These are usually brown and are sometimes labelled as Tyson chickpeas. You may find them as brown chickpeas or kala chana.
    • coconut oil: You may use any cooking oil.
    • veggies: You will need red onion, green chillies, ginger, tomatoes, curry leaves and shallots.
    • ground spices: You will need red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander and my Malabar garam masala powder.
    • grated coconut: You can use fresh or frozen or even rehydrated desiccated coconut.
    • whole spices: You will need dried red chillies, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. You may use fennel seeds instead of cumin.
    kadala curry with roasted coconut

    Instructions

    There are two ways to start the Kadala curry recipe. If I am making and serving immediately, then I start the curry with the tadka or tempering. The step-by-step images here follow this process. But, if I am making it ahead to serve only the next day, then I skip the tempering and start with sauteing of onion, etc. This is because I will get a chance to reheat and add a freshly made tadka to the curry making it taste better.

    For detailed instructions, please refer to the recipe card below.

    black chickpeas with water in a pressure cooker pan.

    Always soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of water. Use a stove-top Pressure cooker to cook the soaked chickpeas with enough water and salt. Cook for 4 to 5 whistles on medium heat and let natural pressure release.

    Grated coconut with dried rec chillies in a cast iron skillet.

    While the chickpeas are cooking, use a heavy-bottomed pan to roast the grated. coconut. Roast the coconut with a few dried red chillies.

    Roasted coconut and dried red chillies in a cast iron pan.

    Roast on low heat stirring often until they turn golden. Take care not to burn them. Some families add the ground spices during this proces. I don't because it stains multiple utensils unnecessarily.

    😛

    Roasted coconut mixture with boiled brown chickpeas in a mini processor jar.

    Add the roasted coconut mixture to a mini mixie or chutney maker along with 1 to 2 tablespoons of boiled chickpeas and a ¼ cup of water (you can use from the pressure cooker). Let the items cool before you process to make a paste.

    A saucepan with tempering ingredients in hot oil.

    While that is cooling, you can start the process of making Kadala curry recipe! Start with heating coconut oil and crackle mustard seeds, followed by cumin seeds and curry leaves.

    Sauteing kadala curry aromatics in a large stainless steel pan.

    Then add the finely chopped red onion or shallots and saute until they turn translucent. Also add a little grated ginger along with a few green chillies and saute for a minute.

    Roughly chopped tomatoes

    Next, add the roughly chopped ripe tomatoes with a dash of salt.

    Kadala curry recipe ground spices over the chopped tomatoes.

    Reduce the heat to low-medium and add all the ground spices. As the spices can get burnt taste easily, it is important you reduce the heat or move the pan off that hob while adding the ground spices.

    Cooked onion tomato masala with water.

    A few tablespoons of water will also help in cooking the ground spices with tomatoes. Stir and cook until there is no raw spice powder smell.

    Boiled black chickpeas added to the pot.

    Dump the pressure cooked black chickpeas with all of the water too.

    Simmering kadala curry.

    Adjust salt as needed and bring the kadala curry to a full boil.

    Ground roasted coconut paste.

    Process the roasted coconut mixture to a paste. Don't have to be super fine. The boiled chickpeas will help in processing the coconut and also add body to the curry.

    Coconut paste in simmering kadala curry.

    Add the prepared coconut paste to the curry and give it a good stir.

    Kadala curry ready to serve.

    Bring it to a light boil, stir and adjust the salt. Lastly, I like to add some torn curry leaves and slit green chillies. Your Kadala curry recipe is done!

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker: Perfect for cooking chickpeas quickly and efficiently. You can use Instant Pot too.
    • Heavy-bottomed Pot: For sautéing onions, tomatoes, and spices. This is where the curry resides.
    • Blender: I use my mini chutney maker jar to make the ground coconut paste.

    Storage

    Any leftover Kadala curry has to be refrigerated and used up within 3 days for best flavour. I highly recommend using a ceramic, porcelain, steel or glass container to store curry in the fridge. Save your tupperware from turmeric stains - from experience.

    kadala curry with roasted coconut

    Tip - I have always resorted to store-bought puttu podi though many claim it is easy to make at home. I have watched my mom make puttu podi, puttu and curry the same morning for our breakfast! Her time management skills are another level or I am plain lazy. But if you are interested in trying, my friend Rafeeda has puttu recipe with video.

    Related

    Looking for other recipes using chickpeas? Try these:

    • chickpea sundal recipe
      Chickpea Sundal
    • a bowl of chickpea tamarind curry
      Chickpea Potato Curry in Tamarind Extract
    • fatteh chickpeas
      Fatteh Hummus
    • Lebanese falafel patties served with yoghurt dip and tomato slices.
      Lebanese Chickpea Falafel Recipe

    📖 Recipe

    kadala curry recipe
    Print Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Kadala Curry Recipe

    Kerala-style kadala curry is boiled black chickpeas in a spicy roasted coconut sauce which pairs supremely well with Puttu (steamed rice cake)
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time45 minutes mins
    Soaking Time8 hours hrs
    Total Time8 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
    Course: Breakfast, Main Course
    Cuisine: Indian, Kerala, South Indian
    Keyword: kadala curry recipe
    Servings: 3 people
    Author: Famidha Ashraf

    Ingredients

    Pressure cook

    • 1 cup dried chickpeas (Use black/brown/red)
    • 2 cups water
    • salt to taste

    Roast and Grind

    • ½ cup grated coconut
    • 2 to 3 dried red chillies torn
    • 2 tablespoons boiled chickpeas
    • ¼ cup water

    Onion Tomato Masala

    • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
    • 1 medium-sized red onion diced finely
    • 3 green chillies slit
    • 1 teaspoon grated ginger (you may use 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste)
    • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
    • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
    • 2 tablespoons coriander powder
    • ½ teaspoon Malabar garam masala
    • 2 medium-sized tomatoes roughly chopped
    • ½ cup water (To adjust the consistency can use up to ¾ cup)
    • salt to taste

    To Temper (tadka)

    • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
    • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
    • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
    • 1 sprig curry leaves
    • 3 to 4 mini shallots optional

    Instructions

    • Soak the dried black chickpeas in plenty of water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain the water to use. For quicker option, you can soak in hot water for 3 to 4 hours.
      1 cup dried chickpeas

    Pressure cook chickpeas

    • Pressure cook or boil the soaked black chickpeas with salt until soft. It can take 4 to 5 whistles on medium heat. Let the pressure cool on its own. Check the doneness and pressure cook more if required. The chickpeas should hold the shape and yet be melted in the mouth soft.
      2 cups water, salt to taste

    Roast coconut

    • Meanwhile, roast the coconut along with the red chillies until the coconut becomes light brown colour and fragrant. Do it carefully by taking the pan away from the fire when it gets too hot and stirring continuously to roast evenly to a golden brown colour.
      ½ cup grated coconut, 2 to 3 dried red chillies
    • Transfer the roasted mixture to a mini processor or chutney maker along with a tablespoon of boiled chickpeas. Grind it to a thick paste with some water.
      2 tablespoons boiled chickpeas, ¼ cup water

    Prepare the kadala curry

    • Heat some more coconut oil in a deep pot and add onions and saute until translucent.
      1 tablespoon coconut oil, 1 medium-sized red onion
    • Add the grated ginger (or ginger-garlic paste) and a few green chillies and sauté for a minute.
      1 teaspoon grated ginger
    • Next, add the chopped ripe tomatoes with a dash of salt.
      2 medium-sized tomatoes
    • Add all the spice powders and fry for a couple of minutes until the raw smell is gone. You may add a few tablespoons of water to prevent them from getting burnt.
      1 teaspoon red chilli powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 2 tablespoons coriander powder, ½ teaspoon Malabar garam masala, salt to taste
    • Reduce the flame to low and cover the pot to cook down the tomatoes until no trace of chunks.
    • Dump all of the cooked black chickpeas along with the water and bring this to a full boil.
    • Add the prepared coconut paste, wash down the jar with some water and add that too and bring to a boil on low to medium flame and let it simmer while you prepare the tadka.
      ½ cup water

    tadka

    • Heat coconut oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the cumin seeds and let it sizzle. Now add the curry leaves and a few mini shallots, if using. Pour the tadka immediately over the kadala curry, stir to mix and switch off. Keep covered until serving time.
      1 tablespoon coconut oil, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 sprig curry leaves, 3 to 4 mini shallots, 3 green chillies
    • Serve hot with warm puttu (steamed rice cake) or boiled rice or chapatis.

    Notes

    Grated coconut: You can use ⅓ cup desiccated coconut soaked in ¼ cup water for 5 to 10 mins
    You may start the this curry with tadka as shown in the step-by-step images in the blog post. 

    More South Indian Recipes

    • A bowl of tomato onion chutney with a serving spoon.
      Tomato Onion Chutney
    • A bowl of coconut tomato chutney with freshly tempered with tadka.
      Tomato Coconut Chutney
    • erachi choru - kerala style beef rice recipe
      Beef Rice (Erachi Choru)
    • red seeds milk drink recipe
      Red Seeds Milk Drink (Aliv seeds)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nandini Nair says

      July 21, 2023 at 4:33 pm

      5 stars
      This is a super recipe and it’s never failed me… My son loves this curry….I have never searched for any other recipes, this is my go to Kadala curry.

      Reply

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    I'm Famidha, a chai lover, Indian in UAE, Hooman of two cats, a Malabari who loves Tamil food and the cook cum writer behind But first Chai.

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