16th March 2024

Goan White Pea Ros

Goan White Pea Ros

This is a Goan preparation of dry white peas. It is popular in Goa as a breakfast meal. Mildly spiced and flavoursome, the white pea ros is enjoyed with Goan pav or puris. People also like to have the curry as a combination with potato patal bhaji (for the potato bhaji recipe click here). It can also be used as a curry at lunch time.

Serves: 4 to 6 Persons

Prep. Time: 15 Mins.

Cooking Time: 5 Mins. (active) + 20 Mins. (passive)

Ingredients:

  • Dried White Peas (safed matar) – ¾ cup
  • Onion (chopped) – 1 small
  • Mustard Seeds – ½ tsp.
  • a pinch of Hing (asafoetida)
  • Oil – 3 tsp.
  • Salt – 2 tsp.
Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros

For the Spice Paste (masala):

  • Coconut (grated) – ½ cup
  • Onion (chopped) – 1 small
  • Dry Red Chillies (Mapusa/Canacona/Guntur) – 3
  • Corriander Seeds – 2 tsp.
  • Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp.
  • Black Peppercorns – 5
  • Aniseeds – ¼ tsp.
  • Poppy Seeds – 1 tsp.
  • Cloves – 2
  • Cinnamon – 1 inch
  • Turmeric Powder ¼ tsp.
  • Tamarind – ½ of a small marble
  • Curry Leaves – 5 to 6
Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros

Step 1:     Soak the peas overnight. Next day, pressure cook them using 1 ½ tsp. salt and one chopped onion for one whistle. Take off the heat and keep aside. Do not open the lid. The peas should be cooked but not mushy. They should retain their shape.

Step 2:     Take a pan and roast the peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves on low heat for a minute. Add the corriander seeds, cumin seeds, aniseeds, poppy seeds and roast till fragrant (I use a small bit of tissue paper to stir them around). Remove from the pan. Do all this on low heat.

Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros

Step 3:     Next heat ½ tsp. oil in the same pan. Roast the chillies for a few seconds. Remove from the pan. Do all this on low heat.

Step 4:     Heat another ½ tsp. oil. Add a chopped onion, curry leaves and sauté till the onion is light brown on medium heat. Add the grated coconut and roast till light brown.

Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros

Step 5:     Cool all the roasted ingredients (Step 2 to 4) and then grind them with the turmeric powder and tamarind using ½ cup of water till you get a fine paste.

Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros

Step 6:     Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan and put in the mustard seeds. When the splutter, add the hing, the boiled peas and the ground masala. Add 1 cup warm water (or more) depending on the thickness of gravy you desire. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes

Preparation of Goan White Pea Ros
Goan White Pea Ros and Potato Patal Bhaji

22 Comments

    • I do not recommend Kashmiri Chilly for this dish. The Mapusa and the Guntur variety are spicy and have a distinct flavour. They also do not give the red colour that Kashmiri Chilly gives to a dish. WHere do you reside and which are the chillies you have? Maybe I could help you further.

    • You do get Guntur chillies in Mumbai. If you are not able to, you could use Canacona or Pandy Chillies. Else if you can’t find any of these, use bedgi (but 2 nos.). But you’ll not get the exact same flavour and colour. And please don’t use Kashmiri. All the best.

        • Mapusa or button chillies /Canacona or Khola chillies /Guntur from Andhra Pradesh is easily available in major markets in Goa. You just have to ask for them by names mentioned. October-November is the time when you’ll get the new stock.

  1. Hi Ina
    I tried the bhaji recipe , but I didn’t hv those red chillies here in uk , v only hv Kashmiri n shepda , got a different color compared to ur bhaji color , but it became yummy .

    • Glad to here that. The next time you shop from India, remember to take some of those chillies along too as they have a distinct flavour. You can store them in the refrigerator for long.

  2. Thanks for the recipe. Turned out just like the one I tasted at a restaurant in Panjim. It was awesome. Everyone loved it. Thanks for posting our traditional Goan recipes.

  3. Hi Ina and Sean
    Today I tried to make chonya ros. It turned well except giving too much corriander powder taste. How do I balance it out?

    • It does not turn out so if you’ve followed all the steps and ingredients. Go through the recipe again and try to find out what you missed. And if you feel nothing was amiss, the next time and if you don’t like the taste of corriander add only 1 tsp. For now you could add half a tsp. of Garam Masala Powder to cut the taste a bit.

  4. Dear Ina thank you for this recipe. It’s just the one I have been looking for, for years. What can I use as a replacement for poppy seeds, as we don’t get them in UAE, Dubai.

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