Achinga/Pairu Mezhukkuparatti (Karamani/Cowpeas pods cooked)

Cowpeas and Cowpeas pods are immensely beneficial to our health and hence these are widely used in our traditional dishes. 

Health benefits include maintaining Standard Cholesterol Levels, Removing Free Radicals, Regulating Blood Sugar Levels, Treating Stomach and Pancreatic Problems etc. Due to its high soluble  fibre levels, it play significant role in decreasing the amount of bad cholesterol present in the plasma of our blood...

Given below is the preparation method of one of the most commonly prepared traditional dish in Kerala using Achinga (Cowpeas pods).

Ingredients:
Cowpea pods - 250 gms

Onion – one, medium sized

Red Chilly flakes – 1 table spoon

Turmeric – 1 teaspoon

Salt  to taste

Steps:

Take the cowpeas and clean it. Chop the cowpeas at lengths of about 2 cms. If there are pods from which you can take the peas out, do the same. The combination of pods and peas improve the taste of the dish to a very great extent.

Chop onions into small pieces and keep aside.

Take a frying pan/kadai (cheenachatti in Malayalam) and pour 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, put the chopped onion into it.  Add salt to the onions (adding salt will speeds up the frying of the onions). 

When onions turn into light brown colour, add the red chilly flakes and turmeric powder into it. 

Add the chopped cowpea pods into it and add salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and close the pan with a lid.

Once the cow peas almost cooked, open the lid. 

Mix the contents thoroughly and allow it to fry for 5 or 10 minutes with the lid open. 

Pl. note that this is not deep fried and hence only 2 table spoons of oil would be required to cook this.

Serves 3…

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