Five-Spiced Whole Pigeon Peas

Page 424

Cuisine: Indian | Course Type: Main Courses

(2 reviews)

View photos (1)

Tags: whole pigeon peas panch phoron

Recipe Review

Well, this didn't work. First, the owner of the Indian grocery where I went told me that nigella seeds were black sesame seeds (they aren't) and that I could use white sesame seeds in their place (you can, but since nigella seeds are different it didn't work). This grocery also didn't sell whole peas, only split, and he said you could easily substitute. Split are quick cooking and won't give the same texture as called for in the recipe, plus the cooking method is different. I cooked them as called for in Pigeon Peas with Chiles and Jaggery on page 426, and went with this recipe to finish. It ended up being a starchy, pasty mess with hardly any flavor.

I know messing with recipes shouldn't be reviewed, but I had no choice since I went off the advice of a well-meaning man who didn't speak much English, but if you are going to make this know that even though I did change one tiny spice and a different way of cooking the peas, it probably will taste very similar, which is not at all.

(1) useful  

Comments

Queezle_Sister - 3rd February 2013
I actually think its great to review recipes where you've faced challenges. I wouldn't know a pigeon pea if it flew straight at me, and so I'd also be at the mercy of the store clerk. This might be be the most useful type of review - its such a disappointment to invest time and ingredients in things that do not turn out!

gauntlet - 19th June 2014
Nigella and white/black sesame seeds are nothing alike in taste. I'm surprised he didn't carry a pre-mixed bag of panch phoron though. The use of halved pigeon peas definitely changes the entire dish. Give it another try if you can find a store that has the proper ingredients, I enjoyed it immensely!

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