Peas on platter
Apart from the usual dishes like aloo matar, there are some interesting recipes in which peas play the main role
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We have a cloth bag with a slogan that never fails to amuse me. Give peas a chance, it says, next to an image of a pea pod. I am all for giving peas a chance — because I love them. I like peas with my paneer, with keema, in my samosas, with mashed potatoes, and so on.
It baffles me that some of my close friends can’t stand peas. What’s there not to like about them? I see them, in this season, glistening in the sun, heaped on a vegetable vendor’s cart, and I think of all that we can do with peas. Apart from the usual dishes — aloo matar et al — there are some really interesting recipes in which peas play the main role. Take matar ki kheer. I remember how surprised I was when I first had the sweet dish at a friend’s place. The matar added to the taste, giving it a pleasurable crunch and a pleasant green hue.
Another dish that never fails to whet my appetite is the nimona of Varanasi. This is a dish especially savoured in cold months. A chef friend once gave me its recipe, that led to a perfect bowl of nimona. For the recipe, take two cups of fresh green peas and grind one cup of peas into a smooth paste. In mustard oil, fry a paste of ginger and green chillies. Add the remaining cups of whole green peas, turmeric and coriander powder. To this add the mashed peas, and then some tomatoes. Temper it with a bay leaf, whole black peppercorns, cumin seeds and hing.
When I am in search of some out-of-the-box vegetarian dishes, I often turn to Ritu Dalmia. From her book ‘Diva Green’, I picked up two very interesting pea dishes. One is a pea falafel burger. Because fava beans are not easily available in India, the chef-restaurateur prepares the falafel with chickpeas and fresh green peas. The other is a dish that is known in the Dalmia household as ‘Scrumber’ or peas on toast. For this, put fresh green peas in a pot of salted boiling water until soft, and then puree it. Melt butter and olive oil in a saucepan, add some onions and saute till they are pink. Add the puree and some milk and bechamel sauce. Cook on a slow flame for about 15 minutes. When it is a creamy mash, season with salt, pepper and sugar, and place on a toasted baguette. Garnish with mint leaves and crumbled feta cheese.
A charming relative of ours — Aunty Geeta — prepares an excellent ‘latpata’ dish of peas, cooked in butter in a pressure cooker with a chopped red capsicum and a green onion. It’s heavenly, and looks like a painting.
It must also be said that peas are culturally more relevant than other ingredients you find in vegetable dishes. A pea lends its name to a colour and a thick fog, and gives us a lesson on table etiquette (popping peas into the mouth off a knife was once quite a fad, but greatly frowned upon). It figures in fairy tales (remember the Princess and the Pea?) and in nursery rhymes (Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold…) and limericks. Dalmia’s book reminds us that Edward Lear wrote a limerick about peas:
There was an Old Person of Dean,
Who dined on one pea and one bean;
For he said, “More than that would make me too fat,”
That cautious Old Person of Dean.
Poor old person of Dean. He had, clearly, never eaten Varanasi’s delicious nimona, or Aunty Geeta’s ‘latpata’ peas.
Karaishutir kochuri (matar kachori, Eastern style)
Ingredients
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Maida 2 cups
Peas (shelled) 2 cups
Hing A pinch
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Red chilli flakes ¼ tsp
Onion seeds ½ tsp
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Coriander powder ½ tsp
Cumin powder ½ tsp
Salt To taste
Sugar To taste
Oil As needed
Warm water
Method
Mix the flour with a little bit of oil, salt and sugar. Add warm water and knead till it turns into a soft ball of dough. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes. Grind the peas with salt and a bit of sugar. In a kadahi, add a bit of oil, and then put the hing, onion seeds, and chilli flakes. Add the ginger paste and the powdered masalas. Saute for a bit and then add the mashed peas. Fry till the peas are fully mashed. Take it off the stove. Let the mash cool — if you can, refrigerate this overnight or for a few hours. Make small balls out of the dough. In each ball, add a scoop of the pea paste. Roll it out into a small puri shape. Heat oil and deep fry the puri. Serve with potato curry.
— The writer is a food critic
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