March 14, 2025

Recipe for Black Eyed Beans/Alsande/Chowli/Curry

Chavli/Chowli/Black Eyed Beans or Alsande tondak or samarem is quite a popular vegetarian dish in a Goan houehold. In Konkani we pronounce it as "Osandem"

I remember aunty Mary in our vaddo making the tastiest Osandem samarem on most Fridays as she and her family used to eat only Vegetarian food on Fridays. My Mum n Dad were very close friends with uncle Volley and aunty Mary. During our summer holidays, my Parents always made it a point to catch up with uncle and aunty as often as they could. They'd tell us we will go only for sometime but the sometime often lead to being there for more that 1-2 hours. As kids, we would be restless and wait for the elders to finish their drinks. It used to be fun as uncle Volley was super funny and then after 1 or 2 pegs, all the fun of their good old days would be spoken about by him and my Dad.

After a point, as kids we would tend to get restless as we could never relate to some of the topics of discussion(and today we miss those times so bad). When Mary aunty would see me getting restless wanting to go home, she'd lure me with her food, hold my hand and take me to the "Cuzin" (Kitchen) where there used to be a long wooden wall table and a long bench where she'd make me and Skeeta, the younger daughter sit on the bench and serve us. And me being Me, whenever it was Friday, I'd secretly get excited to stay for dinner because I knew there would be "Samare" and Pao.

Those memories of friends and relatives visiting eachother without permission or a prior phone call, was the best era according to me. The beauty was in how every family always had extra food and we always offered food to anyone who came over. Back in the day there was no concept of "ordering food" from restaurants yet, nobody left hungry!!! Those days were truly blessed. How we miss those days and all the simplicity and ekvotponn that came along with it.

Chowli being one of my favourite pulses, I make it often at home. When I feel like eating bread or Chapati, I make a Xacuti and whenever I feel like eat rice, I make this curry. Do give it a try. I know you'll like it. No! this is not aunty Mary's recipe as I don't think i'll ever be able to match what she makes. I tried many times, but didn't get there....

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Goan

Keyword Alsande, Black eyed beans, Chavli, Chowli, Chowli Curry, Goan Veg curry, Osandem, Veg Recipe

Ingredients

For the Masala

4 Tbspn Coconut
½ Tomato – roughly diced
½ Onion – roughly diced
3 Kashmiri Chillies
4 Garlic cloves
1 inch piece of Ginger
1.5 Tspn Coriander Seeds
1 Tspn Cumin Seeds
½ Tspn Peppercorns
Marble sized ball of tamarind(cleaned and without seeds)
½ Tspn Turmeric Powder
½ Cup Water

Other Ingredients

1 Cup Chowli/Black Eyed Beans/Alsande – soaked overnight
½ Onion – chopped fine
½ Tomato – chopped fine
2 Green Chillies – slit
1 Tbspn Ghee or any cooking oil of your choice
1 Cup Water for the gravy
4 Cups Water for boiling the Chowli
1 Tspn Salt
1 Veg Stock Cube

Instructions

After the Chowli is soaked for 5-6 hours or overnight, wash it thoroughly and boil it in the pressure cooker by giving it 2 whistles on medium flame.
Note:- if the Chowli have soaked for more than 6 hours, 2 whistles are enough.
Ensure the Chowli is not extremely soft and mushy but it should not be hard either because we have to further cook it at a later stage
As soon as the whistle blows, turn off the flame and allow all the steam from the pressure cooker to be released and only then open the cooker. Strain the Chowli but keep the water/stock. We will use the stock in the curry
Keep it aside
Transfer all the ingredients(except water) into a small(dry)mixer jar
Using water little by little, Grind all the ingredients into a smooth fine paste.
Note: If you add all the water at once, the spices won’t break down completely and the Masala will remain coarse.
Now in a vessel or skillet, add the ghee/coconut oil/vegetable oil, whichever you're using and place the vessel on medium flame
Add in the onions, tomatoes and chillies and saute until the onions turn translucent
Add the curry paste into the vessel
Add 1 Cup of the boiled Chowli water/stock into the mixer in which the masala was made, give it a nice shake and add all the water into the vessel and
---Remember, we don't waste any precious Masala😉
Cover the vessel and let the curry boil for about 15-20 minutes until the curry loses its raw taste. Add more of the Chowli stock if required
Now, add the Chowli, stock cube if using and Salt into the vessel, Mix it well and cover the vessel with a lid. Let this cook on Medium heat
Allow this to boil for about 7-10 minutes and then add the fresh coriander leaves. Check for salt and tamarind
After 2 minutes, turn off the gas flame. Enjoy this super yum "Osandem" curry with some Hot Bread, Poie or Chapatis some like it with Rice as well😋