Vaalache Birde

Kadve vaal are a slightly bitter variety of Lablab purpureus particularly associated with the Konkan, and getting them from dried bean to dinner is an almost unreasonable amount of work. They are soaked, sprouted, soaked again, individually peeled, then cooked well past merely tender until the beans begin to break down.

The peeled vaal are cooked with vegetables, coconut, tamarind and jaggery into a thin gravy where bitterness, sweetness and sourness all sit together rather beautifully.

Ingredients

For the vaal

• 250 g dried kadve vaal

• Water, for soaking, sprouting and cooking

For the coconut vatan

• ¼ cup fresh grated coconut

• ¼ cup dried coconut

• A little water, for grinding

Alternatively, replace both with ½ cup coconut milk. Keep the coconut restrained. Birde should have a fairly thin gravy rather than a thick coconut sauce.

For the curry

• 2 tbsp groundnut oil

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• A pinch of hing

• 1 large onion or 2 medium onions, chopped

• 1 whole bulb garlic

• 1 inch ginger

• 3 green chillies, roughly broken

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 2 tsp red chilli powder

• 1 lemon-sized ball tamarind

• Jaggery, to taste

• Salt, to taste

• A handful of coriander leaves, chopped

• Hot water, as required

Vegetables

Choose one or two depending on what you have:

• Potato

• Brinjal

• Ridge gourd

• Bottle gourd

• Drumsticks

• Red amaranth stems

For this version, I used 1 small ridge gourd, diced, and a handful of red amaranth stems, broken into pieces.
The vegetables don't all cook at the same rate, so add them accordingly. Potatoes and drumsticks need to go in earlier, while tender greens and stems should be added towards the end.

Method

Soak and sprout the vaal

Wash the dried kadve vaal and soak them in plenty of water for 12 hours.
Drain thoroughly and transfer to a container or sprout maker. Cover and keep somewhere warm and dark. If using an ordinary container, wrapping it in a cloth helps maintain darkness and warmth.
Check after about 24 hours. You're looking for sprouts approximately 1 to 3 cm long. If necessary, give them a little longer.

Peel the sprouted vaal
Cover the sprouted vaal with hot water and leave them for at least 1 hour. This helps loosen their thick outer skins.
Peel each vaal individually, dropping the peeled beans directly into a bowl of fresh water as you work. Keeping them submerged helps prevent them from yellowing and discolouring.
This is easily the most time-consuming part of the recipe, so it can be done a day in advance. Keep the peeled vaal submerged in fresh water in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook.

Prepare the vatan and tamarind
Pound or grind the ginger and garlic together into a coarse paste.
Lightly roast the dried coconut until aromatic and just beginning to colour. Combine it with the fresh coconut and grind with a little water to make a smooth paste. Don't use more coconut than necessary, since the finished Birde should remain relatively loose and soupy.
If using coconut milk instead, skip this step.
Soak the tamarind in hot water until soft, squeeze it thoroughly and strain to obtain a concentrated tamarind water.

Start the Birde
Heat the groundnut oil in a deep pan.
Add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add the hing, followed immediately by the chopped onion so the hing doesn't burn.
Cook until the onion is completely soft but doesn't need to become deeply browned.
Drain the peeled vaal and add them to the pan. Mix well.
Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, cumin powder, red chilli powder and green chillies. Fry everything together for about 5 minutes.

Cook the vaal properly
Pour in enough hot water to generously cover the vaal and bring to a strong boil.
Initially, cook the vaal uncovered at a steady boil on medium heat. This step is important for mellowing the characteristic bitterness of kadve vaal.
After the initial uncovered cooking, lower the heat, cover and continue cooking until the vaal are soft.
But don't stop there.
The vaal shouldn't merely be tender while remaining perfectly intact. Continue cooking until some of them begin to split and break.
Add additional hot water whenever necessary. This isn't supposed to cook down into a thick, dry curry.

Add the vegetables
For the ridge gourd and red amaranth version, add the diced ridge gourd when the vaal are approaching tenderness.
Continue cooking until the ridge gourd is completely cooked and the vaal have begun breaking down.
Add the red amaranth stems towards the end and cook only until tender.
If using other vegetables, adjust their timing accordingly. Potatoes or drumsticks should go in considerably earlier, while quick-cooking vegetables can wait until the vaal are nearly ready.

Make it sweet and sour
Once the vaal and vegetables are properly cooked, add the coconut vatan, tamarind water, salt, jaggery and chopped coriander.
Add a little more hot water if necessary to maintain a thin, flowing gravy.
Bring everything back to a boil and cook for just 2 to 3 minutes.
Taste carefully and adjust the tamarind, jaggery and salt. The Birde should have a noticeable sweet-tangy balance, rather than either sweetness or sourness dominating.
Switch off the heat and leave it to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.

A note on the vaal

The unusual thing about this recipe is that “soft” isn't the finish line. My mother is very particular that kadve vaal don't taste right when they're simply cooked until tender. They need to go a little further, until the beans themselves begin to split and break down.