Beerakaya kandi kaya kura is a simple, healthy, nutritious daily vegetable curry from South India. It goes well with both rice & roti. Saute beerakaya and kandi kaya with green chilies, garlic and basic tempering ingredients for a finger licking curry.
Ridge gourd is beerakaya in Telugu and turai in Hindi. Pigeon peas are kandi kaya or kandi ginjalu in Telugu and dried version of split pigeon peas is toor dal / tuvar dal / arhar dal. Ridge gourd pigeon peas curry Indian style is a must try under 30 minutes recipe.

This post was originally published in May 2011. It is republished with new content and images.
Jump to:
About the recipe
Ridge gourd dal (Indian lentils) is a very common dish in India but is a rarity with fresh peas. However, beerakaya alshantha kaya is a very popular dish in Northern Telangana and today’s recipe is inspired from that.
Fresh alshanta kaya, which is fresh black eyed peas or cowpeas is a seasonal produce. Here in the US, we find it sometimes in Indian stores or a few farmers markets when in season. Whenever I can source it, I make beerakaya alshantha kaya koora.
When it is not in season, I replace alshantha kaya with frozen kandi ginjalu. You can make beerakaya curry with dried or frozen black eyed peas but I am not very fond of it. Hence frozen pigeon peas come to my rescue and make beerakaya kandi ginjala kura.
Frozen pigeon peas is available in most Indian stores as tuvar lilva or order online from Weee (triple 'e') or Quicklly (double 'l'), if these sites deliver in your area. Depending on the location, you can find frozen pigeon peas in Walmart, Sams Club, Kroger, other local grocery stores and in Latin American & Caribbean stores.
How to cook frozen Pigeon Peas
Pigeon peas, like any other frozen peas & lima beans, are handy and easy to cook. However, unlike green peas and lima beans, we need to pre-cook pigeon peas when using in a curry. You can cook on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Heat some water in a saucepan and when water comes to a boil, add pigeon peas and cook for 4-5 minutes until peas are cooked but firm. Rest of the cooking is done along with the curry. In the microwave, cook time is 4 minutes. Depending on the quantity, cook time will vary.
Ingredients
Ridge Gourd - Use tender gourd.
Pigeon Peas - frozen or fresh peas if you can source it. I get frozen ones from the Indian store. Depending on the location, you can find these even in Walmart, Kroger, Latin and Caribbean grocery stores.
Chili - use green chilies and you may also use little chili powder, if you wish.
Garlic - use crushed or ground garlic. I use it only in tempering but adding some towards the end, 2-3 minutes before turning off the flame enhances the flavor of the curry. And garlic is healthy for you, so be generous.
Milk - gives the curry a sweetish taste and it is optional. You do not need too much as in palu posina beerakaya koora but just a couple of tablespoons goes a long way. Skip to keep it a vegan recipe.
Other Ingredients - oil, onion, curry leaves, cumin seeds, salt, turmeric and kothmir (cilantro).
Instructions
Cook tuvar lilva in hot water for 4-5 minutes until soft or microwave for 4 minutes, discard the water and keep aside until needed.
Wash and peel beerakaya. Cut it into half, lengthwise and then cut each into ½” pieces. Depending on how fat the gourd is, you may have to cut the gourd into 4 pieces lengthwise and then cut it into ½”pieces.
Step 1 - Heat oil in a skillet or a pan, add cumin seeds and let it change color. Then add curry leaves, green chilies, onions, and sauté until onions are translucent.
Step 2 -Then add garlic and sauté until garlic is lightly roasted, followed by turmeric, chili powder and salt. Mix well.
Step 3 -Now add beerakaya and pre-cooked tuvar lilva. Mix well.
Step 4 - Saute for a minute or two until spices coat beerakaya. If using milk, add at this point. Cover and cook on medium - medium low flame for 5-8 minutes or until the ridge gourd is soft.
Step 5 -Remove the cover and continue to cook until all the moisture evaporates. Keep stirring intermittently to avoid burning. Reduce the heat, if necessary.
Step 6 -Once the water evaporates, fry beerakaya kandi ginjala kura for a few minutes, add chopped kothmir / cilantro and remove from heat.
Serve & Store
Serve beerakaya kandi kaya kura with rice and roti. Store leftover in an air tight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or on stovetop before serving.
Substitutes
Replace tuvar lilva with frozen black eyed peas or dry black eyed peas. When using dry black eyed peas, soak overnight or 6-8 hours, cook until soft but firm and then add to the curry. Recipe is similar beerakaya alsantha kaya kura.
Expert Tips
- Use tender ridge gourd.
- Pre-cook frozen pigeon peas just until soft but still firm and then add to the curry.
- When beerakaya is not tender, you need not pre-cook tuvar lilva. Cook these together when preparing the curry. Or precook both before preparing the ridge gourd pigeon peas curry.
FAQ
Cook pigeon peas on stove top or in the microwave. On stovetop, bring water to a boil, add frozen peas and cook until tender. In the microwave, 4-6 minutes or as needed.
No. Cook frozen pigeons peas directly and do not thaw.
Ridge Gourd Recipes
Apart from beerakaya alshantha kaya koora and ridge gourd pigeon peas curry, I also make beerakaya koora a plain turai subji, turai (beerakaya) egg bhurji and beerakaya royyala koora. Beerakaya royyala koora is a popular dish from Andhra cuisine.
Signup to the newsletter to receive latest updates from MySpicyKitchen.
📖 Recipe
Beerakaya Kandi kaya Kura
Equipment
- 1 Peeler, cutting & knife
- 1 Saute or Frying Pan
- 1 Spatula or Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- ½ cup frozen Pigeon Peas
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 6 Curry Leaves
- 1 small Onion Chopped
- 6 Green Chilies cut
- 2 teaspoons crushed Garlic
- ¾ teaspoons Chili Powder
- ¾ teaspoons Salt but can use 1 tsp
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 500 grams Ridge Gourd 2 medium to long ridge gourd and roughly 4 cups when chopped.
- 2-3 tablespoons Milk opt and skip to keep it vegan
- Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Cook pigeon peas in hot water for 4-5 minutes until tender or microwave for 4 minutes, discard the water and keep aside until needed.½ cup frozen Pigeon Peas
- Wash and peel ridge gourd. Cut it into half, lengthwise and then cut each into ½” pieces. Depending on how fat the gourd is, you may have to cut the gourd into 4 pieces lengthwise and then cut it into ½”pieces.500 grams Ridge Gourd
- Heat oil in a skillet or a pan, add cumin seeds and let it change color.2 tablespoons Oil, ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- Then add curry leaves, green chilies, onions, and sauté until onions are translucent.6 Curry Leaves, 6 Green Chilies cut, 1 small Onion Chopped
- Then add garlic and sauté until garlic is lightly roasted, followed by turmeric, chili powder and salt. Mix well.2 teaspoons crushed Garlic, ½ teaspoon Turmeric, ¾ teaspoons Chili Powder
- Now add ridge gourd, pre-cooked pigeon peas and mix well.
- At this point, add milk if using and mix well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes on high. When not using milk. Cook on medium - medium low flame for 5-8 minutes or until the ridge gourd is soft.2-3 tablespoons Milk
- When the ridge gourd is cooked, remove the cover and continue to cook for another 5 - 10 minutes until all the liquid evaporates. Keep stirring it intermittently. If the curry is burning, reduce the heat.
- Once the water evaporates, fry it for a few minutes and remove from heat.
- Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or roti.
Notes
- Use tender ridge gourd.
- Pre-cook frozen pigeon peas just until soft but still firm and then add to the curry.
- When ridge gourd is not tender, you need not pre-cook pigeon peas. Cook ridge gourd and frozen peas together when preparing the curry. Or precook both before preparing the curry.
- Milk - when adding milk to curry, keep the flame low and mix immediately to avoid curdling. For a vegan recipe, skip milk or use non dairy milk.
- Nutrition - values listed below are approximate.
Srivalli says
Love the new pictures Usha, this is a must when the pigeon peas are freshly available right..
Archana says
I had some frozen pigeon peas in my freezer and ridge gourd too can you guess what I served for lunch? Thanks, we are enjoying our meal today. It was different from what I regularly make and we needed the change.
Rama says
Hi Usha lovely recipe will surely try by the way kandikaya antey Bobbarulaa ??
Love Rama
MySpicyKitchen says
Rama, kandikaya antey fresh kandi ginjalu, pigeon peas. Manaku Indian store freezer section loo dorukutundhi.
Smitha says
Hi Usha..
Thanks again for your entry 🙂 Love Ridge gourd in any bean dish 🙂
Smitha @ Kannadacuisine
Suma Gandlur says
Interesting. As Harini mentioned we add toor dal to this curry but never tried adding alasandalu. And thanks for linking to my event. 🙂
BTW are you from Andhra?
veena says
looks great usha. I think i need to try this!!!1
Suman Singh says
Sabzi looks delicious..I remember mom making something similar to this back home..great recipe..thanks for sharing!
Raji says
This curry is looking delicious...very new to me...healthy and I bet tasty too.
Treat and Trick says
Great combo and looks delicious, nice clicks too...
Pavani says
Beerakaya kura looks delicious. Adding peas/ beans makes it a even more healthy and nutritious.
Priya says
Yumm, curry looks super delicious...Wish i get that whole plate of delicious curry rite now for my dinner..
Vardhinid says
Yes Usha, I am in the US but the closest Indian store is 3 hours away :(. So my Indian grocery shopping is limited to once every 3 months. And the day we pick to go shopping .. the vegetables are in the dying stage that I hesitate to pick them up 🙂
Vardhini
Priya (Yallapantula) Mitharwal says
Wow, looks tempting and delicious 🙂
Vardhini says
Looks so yummy. We dont get these vegetables here .. drooling ..
Vardhini
harini-jaya says
Good one! I usually make it with soaked chana dal or soaked toor dal.
MySpicyKitchen says
Never tried it with chana dal or toor dal however, at my grandma place they used to make it with soaked moong dal. That was when fresh black eyed peas were not in season.
Priya Mahadevan says
the curry looks extremely colorful and completely delicious, Usha! YUM!