Coconut Curry with Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas

Readers, this is a home run recipe. It's laughably easy, hilariously cheap and it takes just half an hour to make.

And ohhhh it's good. A unique and truly unusual mix of spices, flavors and textures. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did.

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Coconut Curry with Collard Greens and Black Eyed Peas
(Adapted/modified from Rancid Raves)

Ingredients:
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 medium bunch of collard greens, de-stemmed and coarsely chopped (maybe 8-10 leaves)
1 can (14-16 ounces) coconut milk
1/4 cup water

Spice Mixture:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons cumin

Directions:
1) Saute the onion in oil on medium high heat for 4-5 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown. Add the garlic and ground ginger, saute for another 1-2 minutes.

2) Add the spice mixture, combine well, and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Add the collard greens, tomatoes and black-eyed peas and combine everything well.

3) Add the coconut milk and water, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until collards are cooked to your liking. Serve over white or brown rice.

Serves 5-6 generously.
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Recipe notes:
1) Feel free to be flexible with your choice of leafy greens in this recipe: Swiss chard could be a great substitution. Spinach or even something unusual like beet greens could work too. Note: you'll want to wait until the dish is almost ready before adding very tender greens. Spinach, for example, should be added to the dish for only the last few minutes of simmer time. Those spinach leaves should be wilted, not liquified.

2) If you follow this recipe as written, this dish will come out fairly spicy. For a milder version, try cutting the cayenne pepper in half.

3) Oh, and a momentous event occurred the first time I made this recipe. I finished off a cannister of turmeric that my mother gave me back in 1991, when I first moved out on my own. This little spice container had a date on it: 1974. And people say you have to throw out your spices after six months.


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12 comments:

Stuart Carter said...

I presume fresh ginger?

And I am so going to make that with mustard greens...

Stuart Carter said...

Also: will make it with my own canned legumes, thanks ;)

Daniel said...

Hi Stuart. Actually we used ground ginger from a spice jar, not fresh ginger. But either would be fine.

PS: Mustard greens would work well too. Let me know how it comes out!

DK

Joanne said...

This is definitely my kind of dish, Dan! All that spice...love it!

Diane said...

Turmeric definitely gets stale - all ground spices do, but turmeric definitely. You will notice the difference when you buy new.

Owlhaven said...

Must try this! Thanks!

Mary

Daniel said...

Diane, here's the thing. Yes, the old turmeric was a bit less strong in smell and taste than the new jar of turmeric that I opened brand new. I did notice the difference.

But my old turmeric was from 1974. Nineteen seventy-four! And the difference between old and new was hilariously small. Hardly discernible at all.

DK

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

I cannot wait to try this with collard greens. I know that others have used kale as well.

Daniel said...

Hi Kelli, I was hoping you'd see the backlink and stop by. Thanks for your post and for giving me the opportunity to adapt and modify it!

DK

Malinda said...

Yum. This is a great recipe, Daniel - my ginger is stored frozen, wrapped in Glad-wrap (USA saran wrap?) and it grates down skin and all from the frozen state.

Daniel said...

Thank you Malinda! And that is a great idea on storing ginger, thank you for sharing!

DK

Bethany said...

Made tonight with kale. Another great recipe from CK. Thanks!