127) BIMBLA NONCHE

BIMBLA NONCHÉ

A KONKANI CUCUMBER TREE FRUIT PICKLE

  

Ingredients:

     1)    Very tender cucumber tree fruit – 700 gm.

     2)    Hot red chili powder – 100 gm.

     3)    Mustard seeds – 150 gm.

     4)    Asafoetida powder – ¼ teaspoon

     5)    Powdered salt – 2½ tablespoons (100 gm.)

To Make:

          Put the mustard seeds into a clean and dry food processor and grind to fine powder. Set aside. The cucumber tree fruit (Bimbul in Konkani, Bilimbi, Chilimbi puli or Irimban puli in Malayalam) should be very young and approximately an inch in length. Cut off the tip with the stem. In case some of the cucumber tree fruit are a little bigger than an inch in size, split those into halves. The smaller ones can be pickled as such.

          Wash them in a solution of 2 litres of clean water with 30 ml. of vinegar. This will get rid of the stickiness in the skin of the fruit and the fruit will be ultra clean. Drain and put the cucumber tree fruit in an airtight glass jar. Tip in the chili powder, the powdered salt, the mustard powder and the asafoetida powder.

          Close the lid and shake the jar well to mix the powder with the fruit. Pour in enough drinking water to just submerge the fruit. Close the lid and shake again. Let rest for 2 days for the salt and the spices to penetrate the fruit and also for the fruit juice to leech into the pickle.

          Enjoy with rice, roasted idlis, unndis, shevai (rice noodles), bakris or pathiris.

Mouthwatering bimbla nonché with roasted Idlis

126) BIRINDA JEERÉ MIRIYA SAARU

BIRINDA JEERÉ MIRIYA SAARU

A KONKANI COCUM, CUMIN & BLACK PEPPER RASAM

A NICE APPETIZER & DIGESTIVE TONIC

Introduction:

The cocum fruit grows on large evergreen trees all along the Goa-Karnataka coast. The fruit looks like a small reddish black cricket ball. The rind gives out sour blood-red juice is made into squash and is consumed as a health drink since it is rich in iron and other minerals and vitamins. The pulp is whitish like that of mangostein but quite sour in taste. It is liked by children.

To enjoy the cocum fruit in off-season, Konkanis and Kannadigas sun dry the rind and store it for years. The cocum rind can be used in many curries in place of kodampuli (gamboge) or tamarind. There are many ways of making rasam using cocum rind. Here is one such recipe.

Ingredients:

1)    Dried birinde (rind of cocum fruit) – 50 gm.

2)    Grated coconut – 1 cup

3)    Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon

4)    Black pepper corns – ½ teaspoon

5)    Dry hot red chilies – 5 Nos.

6)    Mustard seeds – ¼ teaspoon

7)    Coconut oil – 2 teaspoons

8)    Tender curry leaves – 2 sprigs

9)    Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

10)                      Water – 1 litre.

To Cook:

Soaked dried cocum rind

Soak the dry birinde in a glass of water for 1 hour. Put the grated coconut, the cumin seeds, the black pepper corns and the dry red chilies into a food processor. Pour in a glass of water and grind to super fine paste.

Squeeze the soaked cocum nicely with your fingers. Sieve and put the beautiful red liquid into a saucepan or vessel. Tip in the ground paste, the salt and the remaining water. Set on high heat. When it comes to a boil, taste and add more salt if required. Lower the heat.

Set a small pan on low heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish spluttering, tip in the curry leaves. Stir once, switch off the heat and tip over the contents of the pan into the saucepan. Stir and cover with lid. Switch off the heat.

Your delicious birinda jeeré miriya saaru is ready to serve.

Pour over well cooked, soft, parboiled rice and enjoy. You will love this rasam.

125) KARMBALA UMMAN

KARMBALA UMMAN

A KONKANI SWEET, HOT & TANGY, HEALTHY STAR FRUIT DESSERT

Introduction:

          Star fruit is a notable blessing of Mother Nature to mankind. Other than providing a plentitude of vitamin C, star fruit has got certain curative properties too. It is widely believed that star fruit juice has the power to relieve people of phlegmatic problems and that it can lower cholesterol levels. Star fruit juice when combined with mosambi (sweet lemon / citrus limetta - a type of orange with hard peel and sweet yellowish pulp abundantly grown in India) juice gives you a delicious health drink. 

          Konkanis often roast the ripe star fruit and pound it along with some sugar cane rock candy. The juice is sieved and administered to little children (2 to 4 years old) suffering from acute cold and phlegm. Children also love to eat ripe star fruit with the ridges removed and cut into star-like slices and sprinkled with sugar. It is so tasty, adults too find it irresistible. Karmbala umman is one of favourite desserts of Konkani people. I am sure you will love this dish.

Ingredients:

     1)    Fully ripe star fruit/carambola (chathura puli or yenu puli in Malayalam, Karambal in Konkani) (do not use raw or immature star fruit) – 1 kg.

     2)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 400 gm.

     3)    Urad dal (split black gram lentils) – 1 teaspoon

     4)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

     6)    Dry hot red chilies – 5 Nos.

     7)    Coconut oil or other cooking oil – 1 tablespoon

     8)    Tender curry leaves – 3 sprigs

     9)    Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

To Cook:

          Wash the star fruit. Cut off 5 mm. pieces from both ends. Cut away the ridges and set aside. Break each of the dry hot red chilies into 2 or 3 pieces and set aside. Pull out the tender curry leaves from their sprigs and set aside.

          In a small pan, put in the jaggery together with 50 ml. of water. Melt on low heat stirring frequently. When fully melted, sieve and set aside.

          Set a flat vessel or pan on high heat. Spread out the star fruit. Pour in enough water to submerge the star fruit. Tip in the salt. When it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the melted jaggery and cook for five more minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. If the star fruit syrup tastes too sour, add a little sugar to adjust to your taste (If the star fruit is a little less ripe or immature, it may be sourer. If it is too tender, this dessert will be a disaster).

          Switch off the heat and cover with a lid. Set a skillet or small pan on low heat. Pour in the oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping, put in the fenugreek seeds. When the fenugreek starts to crackle, tip in the urad dal. Stir till the urad dal turns light brown. Now tip in the broken dry hot red chilies. Stir once and put in the curry leaves. Switch off the heat and tip over the entire contents of the pan into the star fruit dish. Stir well and cover with lid. Let rest for 30 minutes. Your delicious karmbala umman is now ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!

124) CASSAVA WITH SHALLOT CHUTNEY

CASSAVA WITH SHALLOT CHUTNEY

ONCE A POOR MAN’S SUPPER,

NOW ON THE RICH MAN’S TABLE

AT STAR RESTAURANTS

Ingredients (for the cassava):

1)    Freshly dug cassava roots – 3 kg.

2)    Salt – 1½ teaspoons

Ingredients (for the shallot chutney):

1)    Shallots – 200 gm.

2)    Dry hot red chilies – 8 Nos.

3)    Tamarind – an olive sized bit

4)    Coconut oil – 2 tablespoons

5)    Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

To Cook;

Wash and peel the cassava. Split once or twice and cut into very large pieces (2 to 5 pieces depending on the size of the root). Select a vessel which should comfortably hold the cut cassava pieces with ample room to spare (to hold the froth). Put in the pieces and pour enough water to immerse. Set on high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, lower the heat and cover partially with a lid.

While the cassava is cooking, peel the shallots and wash well. Put the shallots, the red chilies and the tamarind and the salt into a food processor and grind to fine paste (without adding any water).

This paste will smell so hot and strong as to bring tears to the eyes. The poor people used to eat it thus in olden times (rarely with a spoonful of coconut oil if they could afford it). What we need is to enjoy the taste and flavor of the chutney without the accompanying burning smell of the raw shallots.

So, set a small pan on low heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Tip in the shallot paste and stir continuously for 6 minutes on low heat. Your delicious shallot chutney is now ready to serve.

By this time, your cassava pieces should be cooked. To check, pierce the pieces with a sharp knife. If the knife goes in smoothly, drain off the water and serve hot.

I am sure you will enjoy this simple tasty meal which provides energy almost instantly.

Notes:

1)    Cassava can also be steamed or baked either in the microwave oven or on dying coals and is extremely tasty.

2)    In olden times, baked cassava was also eaten as a cure for diarrhea.

3)    You can also enjoy shallot chutney with steamed or baked mature breadfruit chunks.

123) BOILED EGG CURRY

BOILED EGG CURRY

A PRECIOUS MANY IN ONE RECIPE (SEE NOTE)

Boiled egg curry with pathals

Ingredients:

     1)    Coconut – ½

     2)    Dry hot red chilies – 7 Nos.

     3)    Coriander seeds – 1 tablespoon

     4)    Shallots – 100 gm.

     5)    Onion – 50 gm.

     6)    Ginger – 1 inch piece

     7)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     8)    Tender curry leaves – 4 sprigs

     9)    Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece

     10)    Cloves – 5 Nos.

     11)    Star anise – 1

     12)    Tamarind bit – the size of half an olive

     13)    Tomato – 1

     14)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     15)    Black pepper corns – ½ teaspoon

     16)    Fennel – 1 teaspoon

     17)    Coconut oil – 1½ tablespoons

     18)    Eggs – 12 Nos.

     19)    Salt – 1½ teaspoons

To Cook:

          Grate the coconut. Peel the shallots and the ginger. Finely chop the ginger. Peel the onion and chop to fine pieces. Finely chop the tomato. Hard boil the eggs.

I usually boil them like this:

          Put 10 eggs in a pan or vessel together with a teaspoon of salt. Pour in enough water to immerse the eggs. Set on the stove. As soon as the water is just starting to boil, turn down the heat and cook for exactly 10 minutes on a simmering flame. Turn off the heat and drain off the hot water. Pour in cold water to keep the eggs from cooking further and to loosen up the shells. Change the water after a minute. Repeat once more. Now the eggs are cool enough to be shelled. The salt we added at the beginning helps to remove the shells causing no damage to the egg whites. Taking out of the water one by one, shell all the eggs and set aside.

          Put the grated coconut, the red chilies, the coriander seeds, half of the peeled shallots, 2 sprigs of curry leaves, all the cloves, the cinnamon, the black pepper corns, and the fennel seeds into a cast iron wok. Set the wok on low heat. Roast slowly; stirring occasionally till the grated coconut turns golden brown without burning. Switch off the heat and let cool naturally. 

          Transfer to a food processor. Add a little water and grind to super fine paste.

Set a flat vessel or pan on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping, put in the rest of the shallots. Lower the heat and stir for 2 minutes. Add the chopped onion stir till the onion gets nicely caramelized.

          Now pour in the curry paste. Pour in 500 ml. of water. Tip in the salt, the turmeric powder and the chopped ginger. Break in the remaining raw eggs and stir till it comes to a boil. If you feel the curry is too thick for you, add a little water. Taste and add more salt if required. Chuck in the chopped tomato pieces. When it starts boiling, slip in the 10 hardboiled eggs. Switch off the heat.

Serve hot with pathals, ghee rice, vellappams, chappatis, putte, pathiris, porottas, rice noodles or with freshly baked bread.

Enjoy!!!

Note:

          You can also substitute the eggs with clams, mussels, crabs, mushrooms, shark meat, potatoes, mixed vegetables, green peas, meat or soaked chickpeas to make many wonderful curries. As the flavor of this curry wafts out of your kitchen, do not be surprised if your neighbours come running to you with mouths wide open. Do cook and see for yourself.

122) PATHAL

PATHAL

KERALA’S FRIED RICE BREAD

Pathals with boiled egg curry

Ingredients:

1)    Roasted rice powder – 250 gm. (to make your own special roasted rice powder or putte podi, see my putte recipe)

2)    Par-boiled rice (matta rice) 500 gm.

3)    Coconut – ½

4)    Shallots – 50 gm.

5)    Cloves – 5 Nos.

6)    Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece

7)    Cardamom – 1 pod

8)    Fennel – ½ teaspoon

9)    Salt – 1 teaspoon

10)                      Coconut oil or other cooking oil – to deep fry

To Make:

Soak the par-boiled rice in 3 litres of boiling water, keeping the lid closed for 1 hour. Grate the coconut. Peel the shallot. Shell the cardamom seeds. Drain the par boiled rice. Wash and drain once more. In a food processor, put in the cloves, the cardamom seeds, the fennel and the cinnamon stick. Grind to powder. Tip in the shallots, the grated coconut and the par boiled rice. Add a few drops of water grind to thick paste.

Transfer to a large basin or bowl and mix in the roasted rice powder together with the salt. Taste and add more salt to suit your palate if necessary. If you are serving pathal with egg curry, there is no need for more salt. If you are eating it just by itself, it is better to season it well.

Set a wok on the stove. Pour in the coconut oil or other cooking oil. As soon as the oil is hot (just before it smokes), scoop up some of the mixture in your hand and make a ball. Flatten the balls between your palms to make thin patties. Deep fry till creamy brown.

Serve hot with poached egg masala curry (see my recipe) or with boiled egg curry (see my recipe) for breakfast or serve just by itself at teatimes.

Enjoy!!!

Note:

Once you get experienced at making smaller pathals, you can try making them bigger by pressing larger balls between 2 greased polypropylene sheets and releasing them into the hot oil without breaking them after gently removing the sheets. If you like, you can also use pastry cutters or molds to shape the pathals.

121) KOOKA UPKARI

KOOKA UPKARI

A KONKANI STIR ROAST OF CHINESE POTATO

Ingredients:

1)    Kooke (Koorka or Koorkal in Malayalam), a sort of Chinese potato grown in South India – 500 gm.

2)    Dry hot red chilies – 7 Nos.

3)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

4)    Coconut oil – 2 tablespoons

5)    Salt – 1 teaspoon

To Cook:

Soak the Kooke in a solution of 2 litres of water with an ounce (30 ml.) of vinegar for 1 hour (this is to remove the sticky dirt from the Kooke).

Wash thoroughly and drain. Use a pocket knife or a rough cloth to scrape off the thin skin. Use gloves, for the raw Kooke can give your skin a dark stain for a day. Wash once more and chop roughly to pieces. Break the dry red chilies each into 2 or 3 pieces.

Set a thick cast iron wok on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil and throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish spluttering, tip in the broken chilies. Stir once and chuck in the chopped Kooke. Sprinkle the salt. Stir nicely with a flat soft iron ladle. This will solubilize and assimilate some edible iron into the upkari. Cover with a lid. Remember to keep the ladle in the wok all the time.  Do not add a single drop of water at any time.

Once the Kooke gets hot, lower the flame. Every 2 minutes, lift up the lid and stir. When cooked, the Kooke will give out a nice aroma. Taste and add more salt if required. Now turn up the heat ever so slightly. Set aside the lid. Stir occasionally and let the Kooke roast slowly without burning.

It may take an hour or so for the Kooke to be well roasted. Switch off the heat and serve hot with rice, gruel or with porridge. This simple Kooka upkari is so delicious that it is highly prized by Konkanis.

Note:

If you can make it a habit to use cast iron woks and soft/mild iron ladles wherever possible, you can eat tastier food and avoid iron deficiencies and the concomitant synthetic iron and folic acid tablets.

120) VAALI AMBAT

VAALI AMBAT

A SWEET FINGER BITING KONKANI CURRY

Ingredients:

1)    Vaali (a creeper amaranthus called vashala cheera or valli cheera in Malayalam) with stem – 250 gm. (basella alba or basella rubra)

2)    Half ripe Nendran banana – 2 Nos. (400 gm.)

3)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 100 gm.

4)    Tor dal (split pigeon pea lentils) – 150 gm.

5)    Coconut – ½

6)    Onion – 100 gm.

7)    Dry hot red chilies – 5 Nos.

8)    Coconut oil – 1½ tablespoons

9)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

10)                      Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

To Cook:

Wash the tor dal. Drain and put in a pressure cooker with 500 ml. of water. Tip in the turmeric powder. Close the lid and set on the stove. As soon as you hear the first whistle, lower the heat         and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool naturally.

Wash the vaali. Pluck off the leaves from the vaali stem and cut into 2 or 3 pieces each. Cut the stem into 5 cm. long pieces. Peel the Nendran banana and cut into 1½ cm. thick discs. Set a small pan on low heat. Put in a few drops of coconut oil. Tip in the dry red chilies. Stir and roast for a minute. Set aside. Peel the onion and chop into very fine pieces. Grate the coconut.

Put the grated coconut and the roasted red chilies into your food processor. Add a little water and grind to super fine paste. Select a thick flat bottom vessel or a deep non-stick pan. Put in the vaali leaves with their stems and also the Nendran discs. Tip in the salt and a glass of water. Set on high heat. Stir occasionally and cook till the banana and the vaali leaves are soft with a thick greasy broth at the bottom. Lower the heat.

Set a small vessel on low heat. Pour in 50 ml. of water and put in the jaggery. Stir till it is fully melted. Sieve the melted jaggery and pour it into the vaali-banana vessel. Turn up the heat and stir nicely. Let boil for 3 minutes remembering to stir continuously.

Now add the coconut-chili paste and stir well. If the curry is too thick for you, add a little water. Bring to a boil. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Switch off the heat and cover with lid.

Set a small pan on low heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Add the chopped onion. Stir frequently until the onion is fully caramelized but not burnt. Now lift up the lid and pour in the entire contents of the pan into the curry.

Stir nicely and serve hot. As you eat this curry, you can feel your heart dance with joy.

Notes:

1)    Konkanis prepare vaali ambat on the occasion of Kapada Arti, ie. a pooja in celebration of the first pregnancy of a newlywed bride.

2)    Vaali ambat can be served both as a side dish to a rice feast or as a dessert or even as a main sweet dish.

3)    If vaali is not available at your place, you can use palak or any thick leaved spinach.