Val nu Shaakવાલનું શાક
Field beans simmered in a sweet-and-sour gravy. Val is one of the oldest pulses in the Gujarati kitchen, and this is the way most homes still cook it.
Ingredients
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- 1 cup val (field beans), soaked overnight
- 2 tbsp oil, mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, curry leaves
- 1 tsp ginger-chilli paste
- 1 tomato
- Turmeric, coriander-cumin powder, 1 tsp jaggery, tamarind pulp, salt
- Coriander
Method
- Pressure cook the soaked val with salt for 4-5 whistles until soft.
- Temper oil with mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves, then add the ginger-chilli paste.
- Add the tomato and ground spices and cook 3 minutes.
- Add the cooked val, jaggery, tamarind and enough water, and simmer 10-12 minutes.
- Finish with coriander and serve with rotli or bhakhri.
Tips
- If the skins taste bitter, slip them off after soaking.
- The jaggery-and-tamarind balance is what makes it taste Gujarati.
Storing and reheating
It keeps three days in the fridge and the jaggery-tamarind balance tastes more settled on day two. The val go on absorbing the gravy, so add a quarter cup of hot water and boil it back when reheating. In summer do not leave it out more than five hours, as bean gravies sour quickly. It freezes for a month.
What you can swap
- In season, use fresh valor or tuvar lilva instead of dried val. No soaking, and they cook in about fifteen minutes. The gravy comes out a little sweeter.
- If you have no val, chawli or kabuli chana will do. Avoid rajma; it is too heavy for this thin sweet-sour gravy and overwhelms it.
- Without tamarind pulp, use two pieces of kokum or a pinch of amchur. Kokum also deepens the colour of the gravy. If you use lemon, add it only after the heat is off.
- Sugar can replace the jaggery, but the colour stays pale. Jaggery gives the gravy its dark shade and rounder sweetness, which is the signature of this sabzi.
What to serve with it
An everyday sabzi with rotli, bhakhri or rice, and it appears more often in winter when fresh val are around. Chaas and a piece of jaggery go alongside, and on the thali it is paired with a dry sabzi.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not add tamarind or jaggery before the val are soft. Acid firms up the skins of pulses, and after that no amount of simmering will soften them.
- Do not cook the beans in their soaking water. Throw it away and boil them in fresh water; the soaking water makes the gravy heavy and carries the bitterness from the skins.
- Do not give the cooker more whistles than it needs. Four or five is enough; beyond that the val split and dissolve, and the sabzi turns into dal.
- Do not leave the gravy thin. Finish by boiling it uncovered until it thickens enough to coat the beans; a watery gravy tastes of nothing with rotli.
Questions people ask
How long should val be soaked?
Eight to ten hours, so overnight. In a hurry, soak them in boiling water for four or five hours, but they will take longer to cook. After soaking, a bean should give slightly when pressed between your fingers; if it still feels hard, let it soak longer.
Why do my val taste bitter?
The bitterness mostly sits in the skins. After soaking, the skins loosen and can be rubbed off by hand, which is what many households do. Discard the soaking water as well. If the val are very old the bitterness will not go, and you need a fresher lot.
Can I sprout the val first?
Yes. Soak for eight hours, drain, tie them in a cloth and leave for twelve to fourteen hours until small sprouts appear. Sprouted val cook faster, needing only two or three whistles, and the sabzi feels lighter.
