Spring

Indian-Style Spiced Peas with Toasted Coconut

by:
May 15, 2013
4.4
5 Ratings
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

This dish is best with the sweetest peas of early spring, straight from the garden, but frozen peas are still wonderful if you don't have a backyard vine. You can vary the amounts of either pea variety depending on your preference. I use frozen coconut from my local Indian grocery store (along with the whole seeds that I stock up on in bulk), but I'd love to try it with fresh -- I'm just not sure I'm ready to wrestle with a whole coconut, rolling across the kitchen counter. This dish is inspired by my dear friend, Saraswathi, who's my guru for South Indian-style cooking (my mother-in-law taught me the ways of the north). —Ann S

Test Kitchen Notes

Sweet soft English peas, crunchy sugar snaps, vegetal wilted spinach, earthy spices and the thought of an island in the toasted coconut, all zipped up with a well-timed squeeze of lemon. This is an absolutely delicious side that you may forsake your main dish for. The recipe says that it serves 4, but I ate half with dinner and I am eating the rest right now for lunch (it’s good cold too!). Added bonus – it is also (brace yourself) easy-peasy to make. Yep, I went there. —aargersi

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Ingredients
  • 1 cup frozen shredded coconut, thawed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • 1 pinch red pepper flakes
  • 1 small onion, diced (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 fat clove garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups shelled English peas (or thawed frozen peas)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch wide pieces
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • Salt
  • 1/2 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
  • Fresh lemon juice
Directions
  1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the coconut and toast until many of the shreds turn brown. Stir frequently to prevent scorching, but don't be afraid to let the coconut lie still as it browns against the hot pan -- this is what makes it yummy. Remove from heat and cool.
  2. Warm oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes, and cook until seeds sizzle, darken, and begin to pop. Add the onion, stir, and cook until very soft and beginning to brown.
  3. Add garlic to the pan along with the English peas, turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add a splash or two of water to moisten the mixture a bit. Stir and cook until peas are barely tender, 3 to 5 minutes (add splashes of water as needed to keep things from burning or sticking to the pan). If your peas are small and very fresh, they won't need much added water, and they will cook on the quicker side. Larger, older ones may need more water and longer cooking time. Just before the peas are done cooking, add the snap peas, stir, and cook for one more minute. If you're using frozen peas, you can add both varieties of peas at the same time, and cook for barely two minutes, without water if the frozen peas are a little wet.
  4. Add spinach, turn off the heat, and stir the mixture until the leaves wilt completely. Stir in coconut and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Add more salt as needed, to taste.
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10 Reviews

Lisa Y. July 10, 2018
I'm hesitant to try dishes that don't have a number of reviews/ 'test drives' to their benefit. Boy am I glad I tried this one. Fantastic and versatile. I upped the quantities of everything (ok, not the coconut!) and used some asparagus I had around. It played nicely with everything in this recipe, and this base will work with any number of other sautéed vegetables I'm sure.
hardlikearmour June 6, 2013
This dish sounds delicious - I think it would be a beautiful side dish to accompany butter chicken or tikka masala! I have to say I'm a little taken aback by the snarkiness of the review.
Ann S. June 6, 2013
Thanks for your support :) Seems like there was a simple mix-up with reviews which has been corrected. What a lovely community!
hardlikearmour June 6, 2013
Yep! That is not the review that was present before. Definitely no snark now!
EmilyC May 21, 2013
I'm with Abbie -- I LOVE this too! Saved!
Ann S. May 21, 2013
I just noticed a typo in the ingredients. It should say 3/4 cup coconut. One cup would probably be fine, but might be a bit too coconutty.
aargersi June 6, 2013
I used a whole cup - too coconutty doesn't really exist for me :-)
Ann S. June 6, 2013
Good to know! I'm not a measurer by nature, and also not great about writing things down as I cook. So, I will leave the measurement as is—abundantly coconutty :)
aargersi May 15, 2013
LOVE! TRYING!
Ann S. May 15, 2013
I hope you enjoy. BTW I just added a couple of additional notes just to clarify...