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  • 10 mins
  • 20 mins
  • Moderate
  • Medium
  • Serve 4
  • Veg

Chhon Kwa (Curry of bamboo shoots, black beans and potato)

Author: Junu

Chhon Kwa is one of the most popular and unique Newari dishes. Chhon means bamboo shoot and Kwa means hot soup or stew. The dish is famously known as Aloo-Tama in Nepal and is also known among Newari community as Newari curry stew. It is prepared with potatoes, bamboo shoots (made from fermented bamboo) and black-eyed beans. The soup is mainly sour and spicy in taste. The dish is a gluten-free food hence an alternate source for a gluten-free meal. It is served as one of the important side dishes in Samay Baji set.

chhon kwa serve with rice

Ingredients

    1. 1 cup black-eyed peas 
    2. 2 potatoes
    3. 1 cup bamboo shoots 
    4. 1/2 cup fined chopped onions
    5. 1/8 cup fine chopped tomatoes
    6. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
    8. 2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
    9. 2 sliced green chillies/1 tsp red chillies
    10. 1 tsp garlic paste/powder
    11. 1 tsp ginger paste/powder
    12. Fresh coriander for garnish
    13. 2 tbsp oil
    14. Salt to taste

Steps

    1. Soak black-eyed beans overnight and drain the water or can(if you use canned black-eyed beans).
    2. Boil potatoes and black-eyed beans.
    3. Heat oil in a saucepan or a cooking pot.
    4. Once the oil is hot, fry cumin seeds and onions until it goes brown. (see carousel image 2)
    5. Add boiled black-eyed beans and potatoes, mix and fry for 2-3 mins.
    6. Add turmeric, cumin, sliced green chillies, garlic-ginger paste and salt. (see carousel image 3)
    7. Once there is a spicy aroma, add bamboo shoots and mix well with all the spices. (see carousel image 4)
    8. Add 4 cups of boiling water and cook it for 10 mins over medium-low heat.
    9. Sprinkle some chopped fresh coriander before serving.
    10. Serve with rice, beaten-rice, dinks or Samay Baji set. (see carousel image 5)

Utensils

    • Saucepan/cooking pot
    • Spatula
    • Bowl
    • Ladle for serving

Where to buy?

You can easily buy spices, black-eyed beans at the department store, grocery or Asian shops. You can easily get bamboo shoots in the Chinese shops, Amazon and eBay.

Recipe Notes

  • You can also add Yam for a tasty flavour.
  • If you forgot to soak black-eyed beans, you can use canned black-eyed beans.

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