Valache Birdhe or field beans curry – a Regional delicacy from the state of Maharashtra, West coast of India
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, is an extremely popular bean gravy and has helped soothe many aching hearts and settle ruffled feathers after long gruelling work days.I managed to procure a few packets of these beautiful field beans with brown skin after a lot of searching!Hubs goes completely mental at the mere mention of this dish and insisted on me uploading the recipe and help all the other hungry hubbies out there..ahem ..so without further ado ladies and gents I present to you yummyscrummy recipe.
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry
वालाचे बिरडे
ThisValache Birdhe or field beans curry recipe is a typical C.K.P way of making a rather traditional legume curry. Vaal or kadve vaal (kadve meaning bitter in Marathi) are generically referred to as Field Beans in English.
Traditional regional cuisine and a beautiful heirloom C.K.P recipe
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry
Equipment
- Pan to cook the curry
- Blender to make a paste from the garted coconut
- Kitchen cloth to tie up beans for sporuting
Ingredients
- 1.5 Cup Vaal/ Field Beans – soaked, sprouted and skin removed – takes a few days
- 3 -4 Cloves Lasun/Garlic with skin
- 1 pinch Hing/Asafoetida
- 1 Kanda/Red onion – one small finely chopped for the pan
- 2 -3 tsp Dried Kokum 2 pieces or Tamarind (Chinch/ Imli) -tamarind paste OR dried tamarind soaked in water -remove the pips and use the gooey thick bits
- 1/2 tsp Jaggery
- 1 tiny pinch Mohri/Mustard Seeds
- 1 Pinch Cumin/Jeera
- 1.5 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Laal Mirchi / Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Halad / Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Jeere/Cumin powder
- 1/2 fistful Fresh Coriander finely chopped to garnish
- 3 – 4 tbsp Grated coconut paste * see notes
- Salt as per taste
Instructions
- Soak the Vaal overnight, change the water in the morning and by evening if they appear puffed then wrap them in a damp cloth and set aside in a vessel with a lid to create an environment warm enough to allow them to sprout
- Remove sprouted vaal into a bowl and pour like warm water on them, stir with your palms to loosen the skin and many will float to the top, decant the water and remove all the rest of the skins and discard
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and dust some asafoetida and throw in the mustard and cumin.
- When the cumin seeds begin to pop, throw in the garlic with their skin on and smashed to flatten them and as they turn colour and release their aroma, add the chopped onion.
- When the onion turns a delicate pink add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and then add the vaal/field beans.
- Now add the turmeric, red chilli, coriander and cumin powders and quickly stir in enough water to cover the beans
- On a low flame cook with lid
- When the vaal is almost done, add the jiggery, coconut paste and the tamarind paste or the water from the dried tamarind which has been soaked or dried kokum soaked in water and when the vaal are done add salt and garnish with finely chopped coriander.
- Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is best enjoyed with steaming hot rice
Food pairing
This Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is a delicacy pairs best with a portion of pressure-cooked rice of the Ambemohar variety, Basmati will do too. Always remember, a generous dollop of home-made sajuk tup or pure ghee is a must.
Stages of Vaal sprouting in photos
Notes:
- Grated coconut paste: made by running fresh grated coconut or frozen grated coconut through a mixer/blender. Add 1 green chilli and 1 clove of garlic. My Aai (mum in Marathi) also prefers to also add 1/2 a finely chopped red onion which has been tossed on a pan with the coconut and green chilli – must admit it lends a toasty warmth to the gravy but I skip this step simply because the I compensate for it by using the onion in the pan!
- Making Chinche cha kool ( usually, a block of tamarind is available packaged in any well-stocked Indian grocery store here in London, if not major spice brands now do tamarind paste in a bottle, find these online or any leading supermarket) – remove some in a bowl – add lukewarm water and gently ease the flesh of the tamarind loose from the seed. Use this thick mix to add to the curry. If you have fussy eater then maybe you want to strain this before adding into the curry. I would avoid straining as the gara – the thick flesh of the tamarind – is flavour packed so embrace it – fibres and all. 🙂
I do know this process for cooking Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, sounds rather labor-intensive and complex but believe you me, its easy-peasy, and the main bit of hard work is only getting rid of the field bean skins.
Do leave me a comment of you make this dish and also any variations to the recipe that you may have heard of, any anecdotes, happy memories are always welcome. And if you do cook to my recipe do snap a picture of your creations and use the hashtag #travelsfortasteblogrecipe and share it to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and I will re-post it.
Bon Appe’tit !
P.S: coming soon a Valachi Khichadi ( Field Beans Pulav) recipe that’s another firm family fav!
Learn how to cook western coastal Indian cuisine from the C.K.P community with my easy to follow recipes.
Find below a list of Indian recipes on my blog, some traditional, some fusion, and many regional favourites!
- Fresh dill and yellow moong daal recipe
- Goda sheera/ sooji ka halwa/ Indian dessert
- CKP Surmai curry
- Pompfret fry
- Konbichi khichadi – Prawn khichadi
- Vaangayche Bharit/ Smoked stuffed Aubergine ( Eggplant/Brinjal) in a thick gravy/ Baingan ka bharta
- Valache Birdhe – (वालाचे बिरडे) – MADE IN A TYPICAL C.K.P WAY
- Kairi Panhe/ Aam ka panha – Raw mango summer drink
- Cauliflower- vatana bhaji – cauliflower and green peas vegetarian side dish
- Podhnichi khichadi
- Akkha masoor aamti CKP style / Whole red lentils with skin curry recipe
- Achari Mutton curry
- Spicy Chicken curry
- Egg curry
- Kadhi – fusion of Punjabi and Gujrati kadhi recipes with vadi’s
- Upma
- Gujrati Kadhi
- Shahi Khichadi
- Sweetcorn and paneer bhaji/sabzi (vegetable side dish)
- Tomato and coconut chutney
- Steamed Idli batter
- Ragi (Finger Millet) and blueberry pancakes
- Masala egg omlette
- Chicken tikka masala
- Tikka masala curry paste
- Tawa chicken Frankie roll
- Chai concentrate
- Grated carrot salad
- Strawberry flavoured shrikhand
Hi
I tried it and is exactly like my Aai’s recipe. Thankyou.
Thanks Anjali, that is a very beautful compliment, makes me very very happy to read such lovely compliments.
We used to get a bowl full of Valache Bhirde during our childhood days from a close CKP family friends. In return we used to send them sambhar which they would relish. However hard I try I could never get their taste n wondered what ingredient was missing. Today I saw online nd was happy to read typical CKP type..wl surely try today.. Thanks a lot..
That is such a beautiful story to share Achala, I really love hearing such stories. Reminds me of what my late aji- ‘nani’ used to tell us of the times when they bartered milk for fish and how they cooked valache birdhe when fish was too expensive to procure – as a treat for the family. I hope you enjoy making this special dish and enjoy it with your loved ones.
This is what I was exactly looking for .Bless u
how about using valachi daal ? will it give the same flavor?
Hi Meera,
Thank you for stopping by. That’s a very interesting suggestion 🙂 I would love to give it a try soon.
Cheers,
Manjiri
I was looking for this recipe from a long time. Finally found out here.. Thanks a lot.. Will be trying out this in Ganpati.. My Mother in law will be happy 🙂
Thanks Pooja , Ganpati festival is a few days away, hope you try this and do let me know how it turns out!
Hi I am following this recipe for the last 4 years and it’s high time I thank you for this delectable recipe… It’s a walk down memory lane for me… sharing lunch at school was customary and I had a classmate whose mom made valache birde just like so… just a variation I remember was her mom added dudhi… not sure if that is ckp style or her idea of including a vegy to meet all the food groups… thanks much again… I love visiting this blog every time I soak vaal… don’t make it often but my husband loves it so he takes the pain of cleaning the presoaked vaal 😉
Thank you Prajakta, am so happy to hear that you and your husband both love my recipe and make it often! But the best compliment is that he actually cleans the vaal 🙂
I made this today and it was perfect. Thank you so much
Thanks Sonal, I love hearing from my readers and especially love to hear that they cooked a dish following my recipe. Thank you!
Hi,
This maybe ckp style but my mom is goan so she used to make valache birde similar to this but with some more additional ingredients like full dhane (coriander ) , 1 cup grated coconut, dalchini 1 inch, few black peppers, garam masala powder , dhane jeera powder, along with garlic cloves 1 inch ginger also all grinded maybe she tried to mix goan flavour into it but it is mindblowing in taste
Hello Neelakshi, thank you for stopping by. Your mum’s Goan recipe sounds wonderful! I love Goan food and a huge fan of their flavours and spice mixes.
Hello manjiri, i am Capt.Adesh Tungare, only indian on this ship with 23 Filipinos. I got hold of vaal from Singapore but didn’t know how to do. When I gave your recipe to this Filipino cook, and when he made it , it was actually exactly like my aai’s cooked birdhe taste. I don’t know how to thank you. God bless you for this amazing work.
Hello Captain Adesh! Am so happy to hear from you. I actually have tears in my eyes after reading your comment as I am sure my Aai will feel too when I call her and read your comment. I am so happy you managed to find some vaal and that your cook re-created my recipe.I totally understand how you feel because my Baba and many close uncles have all been part of the merchant navy. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment as it is feedback like this that encourages me to keep writing:) God Bless you and your crew and have a safe voyage.
thanks so much. i reached home safely in these trying times. take care and all the best. keep up the good work !!