Having grown up in a slightly more southern clime and food culture, black-eyed peas were a staple at our family table. Sometimes fresh, sometimes home-canned, but most often store-bought canned, and always seasoned with fat drippings collected in the old percolator coffee pot that lived at the back of the stove. They were quick, reliable, tasty and filling, and I never really thought of black-eyed peas outside of those parameters. It wasn’t until years later, as a curious gardener and chef, that I began to wonder what else could be done with them.
A lot, it turns out. For inspiration, all you need to do is look to other hot and steamy regions of the planet like western Africa, where black-eyed peas are believed to have originated, and India, where ancient recipes indicate there may be a variety native to that region as well. That being said, there are numerous varieties of black-eyed pea, vigna unguiculata, varying in color, pod length, and size, and pea texture. Most varieties of the plant have an attractive and robust vining habit—I tend to grow the vining types because I have more available vertical space in my garden—but there are some bush varieties. The flowers are delicate and lovely, ranging from creamy white to violet, the pods ranging from palest green to deep purple. They are harvested at a size dictated by their intended use. We tend to gather them for fresh shelling when the peas are mature and have swelled, creating a rhythmic bumpy texture on the pod. Long beans, the sesquipedalis subspecies favored in many parts of Asia, tend to be harvested young when the peas have not fully formed, the pods remaining smooth, perhaps only one to two feet long. Any variety can be left in the pod to fully mature and dry on the vine to store for winter use, the winter-time shelling of dried peas keeps idle hands busy and provides for guilt-free TV viewing on cold nights. (See In the Pantry below for more details.)
As for preparation, black-eyed peas need a bit of cooking—in whole pea form, about 25 minutes if fresh or frozen, longer if cooking from dried rehydrated beans. As with many other legumes, they can be boiled, mashed, fried, marinated, baked, puréed, ground, or manipulated in any combination of techniques and seasonings. My current favorite preparation is a small pancake, quick and easy to prepare and suitable as a cocktail nibble, a side dish, a salad garnish, or stuffed inside a sandwich. I hope you’ll be curious enough to give these a try.
Black-eyed Pea Pancakes
This recipe is a hybrid, a cross really, between African akara (or accara—a spicy fritter like Middle Eastern falafel, but made with black-eyed peas) and Indian lobia ka chilla, a highly seasoned pancake or large patty made with a base of ground black-eyed peas. I like to make these pancakes quite small, no bigger than a silver dollar, the perfect size to dip, and I prefer to use dried and rehydrated black-eyed peas, although they can be made with fresh or frozen (they just don’t seem to hold together as well for dipping). Begin by soaking one cup of dried black-eyed peas in water for several hours or overnight (they will approximately double, almost triple in size when rehydrated, so keep that in mind when choosing your soaking vessel and the amount of water to use). If you like to make things more difficult, try removing some of the skins from the peas by rubbing them together under water to loosen the skins (which will then float on top of the peas), and then discard the skins (this makes for a more uniform, lighter texture, but you do lose some of the health benefits of fiber). If you are not so inclined, ignore that sentence. In a food processor, combine the peas with one bunch of coarsely chopped green onions (or about one cup of another type of onion, but I like green for the freshness and color), one mildly hot pepper like Fresno or jalapeño (African and Caribbean akara are frequently made with a fiery Scotch Bonnet!), and one teaspoon of salt. Pulse the mixture a few times, then allow the processor to run while drizzling in 2-4 tablespoons of water, stopping when the mixture looks like sandy, pale green foamy pancake batter.
Preheat a nonstick skillet, drizzle with a bit of neutral flavored oil or ghee, and drop tablespoon-sized dollops of batter into the skillet, spreading them out into flattened one-to-two inch disks with the back of a spoon. They need to cook at least four minutes on the first side, so monitor the heat so they do not scorch in that amount of time, then flip them over to cook on the second side, this time only for about three minutes. They should have deep golden to sincerely browned spotty coloration with crispy texture, especially on the edges. With a slotted spoon or spatula, remove them from the skillet and drain on paper towels (the oil in the skillet magically disappears—best not to think about where those calories go), and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Continue until all of the batter has been used, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.
These really are best when served fresh and hot, so don’t start them until you know your guests are ready. A wonderful canvas for flavor, serve the crispy morsels with a selection of dipping sauces: coconut chutney (Google Padma Lakshmi’s Coconut Chutney for Dosa—it’s one of my favorite versions of this traditional South Indian condiment), ketchup, Mexican salsa, Italian mostarda, or even chopped up Korean kimchi. For a more traditional Indian variation, add generous pinches of ginger, cumin, turmeric and a handful of cilantro to the batter—no dipping sauce needed (which makes them great for cocktail parties involving white furniture or carpet).
In Your Pantry
Field Peas and Family
Black-eyed peas and their cousins, long beans, are versatile legumes. Also known as southern peas, cowpeas, blackeye peas, field peas, and crowder peas, the names of different varieties often describe them to a T, like pinkeye purple hulls, yard long, Chinese red noodle beans, and with crowder peas—the generously stuffed pods are “crowded” with peas. They come in various shapes and sizes that can be used interchangeably based on their maturity and how they have been processed. Although not as common in the Midwest as in the American South, keep an “eye” out for some of these in farmers markets and grocery stores near you.
Fresh vs Frozen vs Canned vs Dried
Fresh black-eyed peas are not seen much outside of the southern reaches of the US, although the requisite long, hot, and steamy growing conditions seem to be expanding outside the traditional growing region. Freshly shelled (or frozen, raw), they require about 25 minutes cooking time, but that can vary a bit by size of pea. Most recipes require that the peas be boiled or steamed first, and canned black-eyed peas are at this stage–just boiled, usually salted. Simply cooked peas are a tasty but relatively blank slate, slightly nutty and earthy, and just waiting to be embellished. Black-eyed peas, stewed plain or with other seasonings like salt pork, or herbaceous bay leaves or rosemary, although delicious on their own, are wonderful as a part of a vegetable mélange, like traditional Carolina Hoppin’ John (cooked with rice, onion and bacon), Texas caviar (a dip made with black-eyed peas, corn, onion, peppers and cilantro), or as a vegetable stuffing. And don’t forget to have them at New Year’s, cooked with a ham hock.
Dried black-eyed peas are usually, although not necessarily, soaked briefly before cooking to reduce the cooking time. They double in size when rehydrated and cooked, the cooking time generally increasing to about 40 minutes. The dried, rehydrated peas lend themselves to further manipulation, including grinding for vegetarian burgers or when cooked, even as a base for hummus.
For those who like to plan, the dried peas can be sprouted (36 hours in a dark place, between damp paper towels), in which case they cook in about ten minutes.
The Long Bean Subspecies: Immature vs Mature
Long bean varieties, such as green yard-long beans and Chinese red noodle beans, are popular in much of Southeast Asia. They are generally consumed when thinner than a pencil, before the peas are fully formed and before they have a string. They hold up to long cooking times and can be included in rich meat braises or as part of a curry (coconut milk is a good medium for cooking) without fear of them turning to mush. They can be cut into two-inch sections and treated like green beans, or left whole and tied into loose knots and deep-fried, tempura style. Mature beans are shelled and treated just like black-eyed peas (varieties with exceptionally tiny peas will take less time to cook), including drying. For gardeners, they are beautifully dramatic and prolific.