Green Peas Gravy (in coconut milk)

I was reading the other day about protein content in vegetables at Indira’s blog. I don’t know why people think you have to eat non-veg for protein content. That’s not true at least for Indian people. Most legumes we eat have more protein content without the fat. Green Peas is one such legume.
Excerpt from the link, A 1 cup serving of peas contains more protein than a whole egg or a tablespoon of peanut butter yet has less than half a gram of fat.

My mom would make us eat every vegetable she can cook and especially legumes, declaring while pouring big spoons of curry on our rice laden plates, "this one spoon of legume is equal to 3 spoons of mutton". Well, we would have preferred 9 spoons of mutton then. ;-)
Sarah, I read somewhere you wanted to have this green peas curry? You are a doc, tell us about protein please.

Recipe for Green Peas Curry or Gravy:This curry uses coconut milk – a Kerala speciality for certain curries.

I don’t use canned coconut milk, but If you use canned coconut milk, scoop out the cream first, without shaking the can – this will be your thalappal or thick coconut milk. The rest of the liquid will be the thinner coconut milk.
OR
Coconut milk thicker – Thalappal in Malayalam. This is made just by grinding scraped coconut without the thin brown skin (not taking about the shell), sprinkling little or if fleshy coconut, no water for thicker milk consistency)

Coconut milk thinner – After squeezing out the thalappal, add I cup of water for 1 cup of scraped coconut, grind and then thinner milk is squeezed out.

Don’t throw away the squeezed out pulp. You can add this to vegetable fry mixing with fresh scraped coconut. i.e. for 1 cup of fresh grated coconut, you can mix the squeezed out pulp half and the fresh grated coconut half. That way, you are not throwing away the pulp. You can store the squeezed out pulp in the freezer.

Dried Green Peas soaked overnight– 2 cups. I don’t make curries with the frozen ones, since they are very sweet.

Ginger garlic crushed or diced thin – 2 tsp
Red Onions – ½ cup
Tomato - 2
Garam Masala Powder or Meat Masala Powder – 1.5 tsp
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Green chilies - 4
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves.
Coconut milk thinner - 1.5 cup
Coconut milk thicker - 1/4 cup(You can add 1/2 cup diced potato, but this is optional)
Bay Leaf – 1 whole (Peas curry gives out an unpleasant odor sometimes, so to make it pleasant)

Cook the soaked peas next day in a pressure cooker with salt. Make sure you don’t over cook this, since the soaked peas is very soft.

Heat 2 tsp oil, splutter 1 tsp mustard seeds, sauté curry leaves, diced green chilies, onion diced, ginger and garlic paste, diced tomato in that order. Add turmeric and salt to the sauté. (Remember we have also added salt to the peas).

Add garam masala powder, red chili powder and sauté again for one or two minutes until the raw smell is gone. Add the peas (potato if you want), bay leaf and the thinner coconut milk. Boil the gravy for 6 or 7 minutes or until potato is done if you have added. Before taking out from heat, add the thick coconut milk, mix well and immediately take out from heat.Serve it with rice or roti. It is very nutritious and tasty gravy.