Seam, Potato and Peas Chakee

Seam, Potato and Peas Chakee is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a for a classic vegetarian curry of seam or other beans with potatoes and peas in a lightly spiced mustard oil base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Seam, Potato and Peas Chakee.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

30 minutes

Total Time:

50 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry Vegetarian Recipes Spice Recipes Bean Recipes Fusion Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume: THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.

Original Recipe

75.—Seam, Potato, and Peas Chahkee

Take twenty seams, four new potatoes, and a quarter of a seer of green peas; divide each seam into
three pieces, and throw into a bowl of water; divide each potato into four pieces, and throw into
water; shell the peas, wash all thoroughly, put into a colander to drain, and cook with the following
condiments:—One chittack and a half of mustard oil, four tspfuls of ground onions, one
tspful of ground chilies, half a tspful of ground turmeric, a quarter of a tspful of
ground garlic, one tspful and a half of salt, and one cupful of water. Warm the oil, let it bubble
well, and fry the ground condiments; when these are quite brown put in the vegetables and salt; let
the whole fry, stirring it well; then add the water, and allow it to simmer over a slow fire until the
vegetables are quite tender.

N.B.—A cauliflower may be added if required for a change.

Modern Redaction

Note that traditionally this dish was made with seam/sheem, the pods of Lablab purpureus. However, you can substitute moringa pods (as I have here) or you can use French beans.

Ingredients:

20 moringa drumsticks each cut into 3 pieces and soaked in a bowl of water until needed
4 new potatoes, quartered
225g green peas
3 tbsp mustard oil
1 1/2 tbsp onion paste
1 tsp chilli paste
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
250ml water

Method:

Place a pan over high heat. When hot, add the mustard oil and use to fry the spices and pastes for 2 minutes, until browned and aromatic (but do not let them burn).

Drain the vegetables and add to the pan along with the salt. Fry stirring well for 3 minutes then add the water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently over low heat for about 25 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely tender.

Turn into a serving dish and bring to the table.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.