Kerala Kadala Curry Recipe. Recipe for easy kadala curry recipe made with black chana. Perfect side dish for puttu or appam. Recipe with step by step pictures and video.
This is a very easy recipe for Kerala style Kadala Curry. We love puttu at home. I do not have my puttu kutty for making puttu here in Hong Kong. But I make kadala curry often and I serve it with idli, chapati or even dosa. It goes perfectly well. Here is how to make Kerala style kadala curry. This is how we make at home. Here is how to do kadala curry.
Here is the video for making Kerala kadala curry Recipe
Here is how to do Kerala kadala curry Recipe
Soak the black chana / kala chana over night in water. If you are in a hurry, at least try to soak it for a minimum of 4-6 hours.
Now, we shall do some prep work for making Kerala kadala curry Recipe. We will make a paste for the kadala curry. Grind the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cloves, fennel seeds and cardamom to a smooth paste. No need to add any water while grinding. Set aside.
Take a pressure cooker (I used a 3 liter pressure cooker) and add in the sliced onions, the ground masala, soaked and drained chana, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and a cup (250 ml) of water. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on a low flame. After the 30 minutes, remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. Set aside.
Note: Many people have asked me if the onions and the spices will be raw. The answer is a definite NO. Since we are cooking for 30 minutes, the onions would be nicely cooked and so will be the spices.
Take a pan and saute the fresh shredded coconut in a teaspoon of oil on a low flame for 5 minutes until slightly golden.
Grind the fresh roasted coconut with half a cup of water to a fine paste. Add it to the kadala curry. If the curry is very thick, dilute the curry with half a cup of water.
Simmer the kadala curry for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat.
Tempering:
Heat coconut oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add it to the curry.
Serve kadala curry with puttu, idli, chapati or even dosa.
Kerala Kadala Curry Recipe, Easy Kadala Curry
Kerala Kadala Curry Recipe. Recipe for easy kadala curry recipe made with black chana. Perfect side dish for puttu or appam. Recipe with step by step pictures and video.
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Masala Paste for making Kerala Kadala Curry
- 2 ripe tomatoes (about 200 grams)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 clove
- 1 cardamom
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Other Ingredients for Kerala Kadala Curry
- 1/2 cup black chana / kala chana
- 2 onions, sliced (about half cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
Coconut Paste for making Kerala Kadala Curry
- 1/3 cup fresh coconut
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Tempering Kerala Kadala Curry
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 dried red chillies
Instructions
Here is how to make Kerala Kadala Curry Recipe
- Soak the black chana / kala chana over night in water.
- Grind the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, cloves, fennel seeds and cardamom to a smooth paste. No need to add any water while grinding. Set aside.
- Take a pressure cooker and add in the sliced onions, the ground masala, soaked and drained chana, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and a cup (250 ml) of water. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on a low flame. After the 30 minutes, remove from heat and wait for the pressure to settle naturally. Set aside.
- Take a pan and saute fresh coconut in a teaspoon of oil for 5 minutes until slightly golden.
- Grind the fresh roasted coconut with half a cup of water to a fine paste. Add it to the curry.
- Simmer the curry for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Let the mustard seeds pop. Add it to the curry.
Notes
If you want a spicy kadala curry, you can add some slit green chillies while cooking the kadala / chana.
Coconut oil is preferred for making kadala curry. If you do not want to use coconut oil, you can substitute it with any vegetable oil.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Kerala
Keywords: Kerala Kadala Curry
I love all your recipes and have been following this blog since 3 years now. I’m from Coorg and my husband is a Malayali, so I blindly follow your recipes A-Z and he is quite impressed with my “authentic taste” 😀 Thank you 🙏
Thank you so much.
Amazing recipe. Added coconut milk instead of ground coconut. Turned out well.
Thank you!
Hi Suguna,
I have been following your recipes. They are very tasty and easy to follow. I am from kerala and tried your version of kadala curry today. It was super tasty. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much.
Your video demo makes the whole exercise look so very simple and easy.
Continue this style of video demo, madam. Quick and sleek. Saves time too.
Will try this method and then write as to how it turned out. Best wishes
Thank you!
Hi Suguna. Totally love all your recipes! Kadalai curry is one of our favorites!
I have a question.. If I double the recipe, how long should I cook the channa for? 1 hour or same 30 minutes?
Thank you!
Timing will remain the same. 30 minutes will be enough in a pressure cooker. Just use appropriate / big vessel.
Hi Suguna,
I tried this recipe today and it turned out to be super yum. Thanks for sharing this recipe. This is one of my favorite dishes now.
You have explained the recipe in such a lucid manner. Very easy to follow.
Thanks,
Swati
Thank you!
Today I tried kamala curry, it came out very tasty.
Thanks Sugana
Thank you!
Very yummy and yet so simple … loved it! Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you!
This kadala curry came out so good, I ended up serving myself bowls of just the curry, savouring the flavours. Thank you, Kannamma.
I often visit your site for all kinds of south Indian recipes. I’m a Marathi who simply loves south Indian food. Your website encourages me to cook new dishes. Keep it up. Nandri.
Thank you so much!
Simple yet tasty!!!
Thank you so much.
Nice curry..have tried it .my YOUTUBE channel. EZEESCOOK .PLEASE DO SUBSCRIBE..LIKE AND VIEW..DO COMMENT
Thank you!
Such an easy yet finger licking good recipe! This is my go to recipe for the red rice puttu we make on Sundays! Thank you so much!
Thank you!
Really a delicious mouth watering kadala curry recipe. Thanks Suguna. Even if I am poor in cooking, I made it fantastically with your recipe…..
Thank you so much 🙂
Turned out really good . Thanks for very tasty and easy recipe
Thank you very much. Glad you liked the recipe.
This recipe was a super success… Thank you.
Thank you very much 🙂
Thanks for yet another mouth watering recipe!
Couple of questions if I may! Can I substitute the black chickpeas with normal ones? Can I possibly use desiccated coconut instead of the fresh one?
Cheers
Hi Shreeja,
The white chickpeas will work.
I prefer fresh shredded coconut for this recipe of kadala curry
Thanks
Wonderful recipe..! While preparing it yesterday my 4 yr old asked was I was making since the smell was ‘zabardast’.The whole family loved the curry. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Glad your son enjoyed the kadala curry. Thanks for trying the recipe.
I looked up this recipe and my partner made the curry. It turned out great. Our guest couple also enjoyed it. We had it with ragi puttu. We stored some leftover curry in the refrigerator and had it with phulkas for lunch on the following day. Roasting the fresh grated coconut, blending and adding to the curry gives it a really nice taste.
Thank so much. Glad you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.Yes. the coconut makes it so so delicious.
Recipe sounds good and i will definitely try it, tho’ I’m not sure about so much tomato in it.I just wanted to share that in the early years of my marriage I did not have a Puttu kutty either, but my mother in law taught me to make it in a colander. The bottom line is it needs steaming, the shape is not as important. Because we were a big family she used to make it in a large colander and steam it, add more water, steam again twice or thrice to get really soft puttu that she would serve in a bowl with a rice spoon. It come out much softer than puttu in the mould because of the multiple steamings and was delicious. Another aunt taught me that if you want a shape, take half a coconut shell, knock out the hole on the top, fill it with the already steamed puttu and put the shell on the pressure cooker spout. It steamed in a few minutes, and you got a nice half coconut shape when you served it. This was really useful when I was living alone, because I would make puttu and keep in the fridge, and when i needed to heat it up, I would sprinkle a little water, put it in the coconut shell and one or two shells was just perfect for one serving.
The colander idea is lit 🙂
Oh I made this recipe, Its absolutely delicious. I’ve grown up eating a different version of Kerala black gram curry with puttu, in Dubai but this was gorgeous. Thank you
Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Tried this recipe today. Turned out great. Thank you.
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
I’m an ardent fan of Kannamma Cooks! So I tried out this recipe! But this one isn’t really the traditional Kerala style puttu kadala, otherwise its a nice curry. I guess we aren’t used to the flavour of so much tomato in the gravy 😞
Sorry this recipe did not work for you!
Thank you so much for this wonderful and easy recipe.. everyone loved it and it is bookmarked
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It was a hit and appreciations from my husband made me so happy.
I missed roasting the coconut but the taste was great. Thanks again for making the cooking experience great.
Thank you!
Today I made tis kadala curry…it was awesome and very easy recipe ..it’s just the same as we used to eat in Kerala…now no need to go to Kerala for having kadala curry…thanks Kannama…
Thank you!
Tried this recipe came out well.. Thanks a lot for such a wonderful recipe
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
I have made this curry many times and love it’s taste each time and very easy to make.. thank you so much for such wonderful recipes.. love your work mam..
Thank you so much Indhu.
Made this for breakfast today.. yummy !! Thank you.
Thank you.
Tried this today..Came out well with chemba rice puttu..I added mace strands, cinnamon and jaathikai extra apart from your items too for more spice..Came well.. Thanks
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe. The addition of spices is nice.
HOw to alter this recipe for white chenna pls suggest.
You can make this with white chana too!
I tried this recipe with puttu… awesome… Very yummy…
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
I tried this, tasted similar to the one we get in Thalassery restaurant. Thanks a lot for this recipe.
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Thank you so much. Will try it 👩🍳
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Hi I made this recipe for two . It was yummy and we loved it. I made with 1 cup Channa . Now I want to make the recipe for crowd of 12 people. Can you please give me suggestion for scaling. I really don want to mess up it real taste . Thanks in advance
For scaling, just double the recipe and use a little bigger cooker. It will work well. Thank you so much.
Hello, I am a newbie to cooking. I did everything right, except roasting the coconut before grinding. Forgot about that in the hurry. Added that unroasted ground coconut and it didn’t taste bad at all. So, I was wondering what roasting the coconut does to it, that it is a step at all… Any hint?
Hi Praveen, roasted coconut makes it more nuttier. I sometimes add unroasted coconut too if I am in a hurry. There is a subtle difference in taste when roasted.
I like the channa curry , it is very good. Thank you
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Hi Suguna Akka… I love your recipes and your website is the first bookmark that I look out for any new recipes that I want to make. Why don’t you build an app for your recipes so it becomes so user friendly for us and easy to whisk through!
There is an app available for both google and android and the details are available in the home page. Thank you!
Hi, tried your recipe for the first time, kadala curry was mouth watering and very easy to make. Thank you so much.
Thank you ! Glad you liked it!
Tried ur recipe for the first time… it’s fab to taste and easy as well…
Thank you!
Very easy to prepare and too tasty.thank u madam.
Thank you!
This is too easy o make and tasty as well
Thank you so much!
My rating
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Can I soak kadala for 3 hrs and then cook or should I soak it overnight?
Minimum of four hours to overnite.
I tried your recipe and it turned out really good. This is the recipe I follow for making kadala curry. Thank you.
Thank you!
Yummy
Thanks so much. So happy you enjoyed the kadala curry recipe.
Hi Suguna, I love this kadala curry.. reduces one trip to the restaurant.. it’s just fabulous!
Just a question: Can I alter the masala and use this same simmer for 30min for rajma too?
sure. you can.
Thanks Suguna… I tried ur few receipes all came very tasty.. specially this kadala curry we just loved this receipe.. keep adding more receipes so we can rock our kitchen.. 😘
Thank you!
Hi, I don’t have fresh coconut but only frozen shredded coconut. Can I use that instead?
Sure. You can use.
Yummy and an instant hit the first time. Now demand for the curry has gone up.Very good presentation and easy to cook. Thank you
Thank you so much!
Hi
Tried your recipe. It came out well. Thanks.
Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked the recipe.
I tried your soft spongy idilis twice,
it came out really soft.
But , noticed while preparing dosa, it was sticking to the tawa..
I used to use Idily rawa earlier as it was easy to grind in the blender. I am waiting to finish the Idily rawa so that I can switch over to Idily rice.
Thanks for posting the recipe..
Sure. Hope you get good dosas with idly rice.
Tried this recipe today…..it came out beautifully. Absolutely authentic taste
Thank you so much. Glad that you liked the recipe. Happy Cooking!
Tried it today and it came out very well. With puttu, superb. Thanks for your wonderful recipes.
Thank you!
Best side dish for idiyappam…Tried it came out with really superb taste…Thanx…
Thank you!
Hi Suguna,
I tried it today and it is just awesome! I love to have it with appam too 🙂
Thank you Pavithara Rathinavel.
Tried this yesterday, it became an instant hit! My wife is from Kerala and she began to wonder how I made this tastier than she ever made it! I did a small modification – added 1 potato in the end. It gave an tastier twist to the whole curry. Thank you Suguna!
Thank you Navaneetha Krishnan Balraj. This kadala curry is one of our family favorite too! Glad you guys enjoyed!
Hello Suguna. Can you Please suggest a substitute for coconut. The place where I currently live in US does not sell coconut ?
You can grind some soaked almonds and add to the curry. But kadala curry needs to have that coconut flavor. So adding canned coconut milk a little also would work.
Here’s my rating. ☺
Thank You!
Hi Suguna,
I tried this recipe today. It came out well and it is very tasty too. Thanks for sharing…
Really glad you liked it Akila.