Valor Papdi bean (Indian Broad Bean aka Chikkudikaya)

Among all beans, one of my favorites is Indian broad bean or chikkudikaya.  It is not commonly found where I live, yet I constantly look for it in the local Asian grocery where I get my Indian vegetables. Any time I see it in the Asian market (Grand Mart) I snag it.

My mother always cooked it two ways: one spicy and one sweet. No prizes to guess which was my favorite. Yep you are wrong. While I  love spicy food, this was one that I loved sweet. Here’s how my mother cooked her sweet chikkudikayi.

Ingredients:
How much ever you have of the papdi beans

Seasoning:
1 tsp channa dal
1 tsp urad dal
3-4 dry red whole chili
1 tsp mustard seeds
a cube jaggery or 2-3 tsp brown sugar (or how much ever you like)
a few curry leaves
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste
1 tsp oil

You can adjust the seasoning based on how many beans you have or personal preference.

First wash and trim the beans. Indian broad bean can be trimmed with your hands. No knife needed.

First trim the edges and pull the strings on either end.

Then open the bean and check inside before cutting the bean into 2-3 pieces using your hands. Opening the bean and checking is essential to ensure no worms exist.

Then cut  the beans in to two or three pieces

Steam cook the beans with water in a pressure cooker.

Next heat 1-2 tsp oil in a pan. Add turmeric, asafoetida, Add other seasoning ingredients and fry till lightly brown.

Next add the steamed beans, a block of jaggery or 2-3 tsp brown sugar or what ever you like to sweeten the pot! You can add shaved jaggery but since I had excees water with my steamed vegetables, I just tossed in the cube of jaggery which will melt easily in the excess water.

Continue cooking until the jaggery melts and water evaporates. Garnish with some chopped cilantro.

Serve warm with a bowl of rice. I usually like to eat my sweet bean curry with yogurt rice!