Lilva Tuver and Potato Curry

Pigeon Peas are also called Gunga peas or Lilva tuver  and come in various forms. When they are fresh and green, they can be peeled like fresh peas. You can get fresh, frozen or tinned varieties of pigeon peas in most Asian supermarkets. My recipe for tinned lilva tuver is here.

This week I was lucky enough to get some frozen lilva tuver from the local supermarket.  I used them to make this curry as well as Kachoris.  The Lilva tuver look like peas but have a much better taste.  Even my niece who is not keen on peas loved this curry.

Ingredients for 2 servings

  • 2 cups of frozen pigeon peas
  • 1 medium potato
  • ½ a can of passata (you can used tinned or fresh tomatoes)
  • 2 tbls sunflower oil
  • 1 tsp dry cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chilly powder
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • ½ teaspoon of garam masala
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar (optional)
  • 1 small bunch of coriander and some curry leaves

Method:

1.  Defrost the Lilva tuver using some hot water.

2.  Dice the potatoes and wash them in cold water.

3.  Heat the cooking oil and add the cumin seeds. The  cumin needs to cook until they go dark.

4.  Remove the water from the potatoes and lilva tuver and add these to the oil.

5.  Add the garlic, all the spices, jaggery  and curry leaves  to the mixture and stir.

6.  Add one cup of warm water and allow everything to cook until the potatoes are soft.

7. Add the passata and lemon juice to the mixture and cook for a further 10 minutes on a medium heat

8.  Garnish this with fresh coriander and serve with any Indian bread such as chappatis or parathas.

My Tip: You can substitute Lilva tuver with frozen green peas.

Other Lilva recipes are as follows:

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Mina Joshi

I am a busy working mum who aims to make quick and healthy authentic vegetarian and vegan dishes for my family. I am also a face to face and online cookery teacher, recipe developer, restaurant and product reviewer. I share all recipes with step by step instructions.

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