Here in Queensland we have had cool nights and mornings but beautiful warm days this week. Today, I spent an hour enjoying the warmth of the sun outside while I picked my pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan). Now it comes the task of shelling them! I’m sharing a traditional Brazilian pigeon peas dish with cassava flour, called ‘farofa de andu’ (in Portuguese). This is a traditional pigeon peas recipe from the region where I was born in the northeast of Brazil, Bahia state. I also posted a picture of what a traditional Brazilian meal for lunch looks like. I cooked this meal for dinner. So I did not serve rice which is eaten for lunch in Brazil with a legume dish pretty much every day, with varied vegetables, meat and salads as side dishes. Pigeon peas are so easy to grow but can also be sourced dried from Indian and some Asian grocery stores. Cassava flour which was used but may be omitted, can be sourced from International food stores, also sold online in Australia. A “farofa” is a dish that has cassava flour added. This recipe can be prepared with black eyed beans which are easier to source, or other legume of preference. Serve as a side dish.
Pigeon peas with cassava flour (Brazilian farofa dish)
Ingredients
- 400 g mature pigeon peas or 200 g dried
- 5-6 tablespoons cassava flour
- 1 onion diced
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- spring onions and coriander leaves chopped
- black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil (more is needed if adding flour)
- unrefined sea salt
Instructions
- Add pigeon peas to a saucepan with 1 litre of water and cook them until they are tender for about 25-30 minutes.Drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in the sauce pan, add minced garlic, chopped onion and cumin.
- stir fry for a minute until onion is translucent.
- Add a pinch of black pepper and sea salt, followed by drained legumes.
- Stir fry them together for another minute or two.
- Add herbs and flour and mix all together.
- Serve as a side dish.
