Pattani Piratal/ Spiced Peas Curry

This post is dedicated to one of my best friends, who is almost family to me - Pavithra. She was introduced to me by another family friend and used to live in the same community as I do. Her husband(Big V) was pretty easy going and her son(Small V, looks exactly like his dad! Sorry Pavithra... I had to mention it. ) was the cutest and most adorable 9 month old I had ever met, and who eventually became best friends with my husband and I.We all connected and got along very well. We used to be over at each other's place constantly for dinners, lunches, or even just simply just hanging out. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end... It was true in our case. She moved back to India with her family :(. Fortunately for me the story doesn't end there. She and her family are moving back to the US, though not the same area as us...still something is better than nothing! We can meet up for holidays, etc. YAY! I am so psyched. (I think I am even more excited than even her!!!!!!!)

Pavithra & I

She is a fantastic cook and has re-introduced me to certain dishes which in the past I have hated, but now I love to bits. One such dish was Appam. I am not a big fan of any dish with obvious coconut in it. Pavithra made appam with this pattani piratal. O.M.G!!!! The piratal was so good that I even liked the appam, and now it is a regular feature in our dinner table. She loves cooking so much, that Small V gets very inspired. He used to "cook" for us using his toy kitchen, his specials were avacado sambar and cabbage and  capsicum rasam! I can go on and on about Small V for days so let me stop with this. Do watch out this space for more Pavithra specials!

Future Sanjeev Kapoor making his signature dishes: Avacado Sambar & Cabbage Rasam!

This dish is a Chettinadu special and is a bit spicy & takes a bit of oil. So reserve this dish for one of those days when you want to indulge.


Ingredients:
Peas - 2 cups, fresh or frozen but thawed
Onion - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 4 medium sized, finely chopped
Oil - 5 tbsp , sounds like a lot but do not try to cut it as it is needed in this dish.
Curry leaves- few
Cilantro - finely chopped

The color combination is so bright!

For the Masala:
Coconut - 3 tbsp
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic - 5 cloves
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cinammon - 1/2" piece
Cloves - 4-5
Green chillies - 1-2 optional
Dhaniya - 1.5 tsp
Chilly Powder - 2.5 tsp(lesser if you wish)
Turmeric - 1 tsp

• Process all the ingredients listed for the masala, into a fine paste. Try to avoid adding too much water while grinding.
• In a kadai heat some oil. Add the onions and sautee with a dash of salt, till it becomes translucent. The salt helps in cooking the onions faster.
• To the onions, add the tomatoes, peas, and the ground masala, and salt required for the dish.

• At about half way through add the curry leaves.
• The mixture will start coming together into a tight ball eventually. The tomatoes will "dissolve" and the water from the mixture will go and the mixture will start becoming a ball.
• Once done turn off heat and garnish with cilantro.
• This dish goes with chappatis, rice,dosa,idiyappam, and my current favorite appam!

That one is for you Pavithra!

I got this wonderful recipe for appams from here.