Konkanirecipes.com

Chilli pickle

This is a very quick and easy to make pickle and is my mother’s recipe. It is spicy, tangy and very yummy. We all love to have it as a side with rice and curry or with roti/chapatis. It will come out best with the long and fleshy (there is more to bite) kind of green chillies.

Ingredients

• Green chillies - cut into bite size pieces - 1 cup
• Cooking oil - about 2 tablespoons
• Turmeric powder - about half teaspoon
• Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Methi(Fenugreek) seeds - half teaspoon
• Hing - a pinch
• Lime - 1
• Salt to taste

Method

• First fry the green chillies in oil till they are well done.(Do not burn them) Use medium heat to low flame and it should take about 10 minutes.
• Make a powder of methi, mustard and hing.
• When the chillies cool down a little bit (It should not be very hot nor should it be completely cold), add salt, the powder made above and turmeric powder.
• When it cools down further, add lime juice as per taste.
• If you want to use this pickle over several weeks, then store in refrigerator.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Chickpea curry

chaNe ghashi is a very traditional konkani gravy/curry. It is traditionally made with small black chickpeas, but can be made with the bigger chickpeas as well. Along with the chickpeas you can add raw bananas or Suran (elephant yam ) for added flavor and taste.

Ingredients

• Chickpeas soaked overnight - 3/4 cup
• Suran cut into pieces - 1 cup
• Tamarind - about half inch
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Whole red chilles - a few or a spoon of chillipowder
• Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
• Mustard seeds - half spoon
• Curry leaves - a few

Method

• The chickpeas takes longer to cook when compared to the vegetable you choose to add. So pressure cook the chickpeas with some salt and then when it is almost cooked, add the suran to it, cook till it is tender.
• Dry roast the red chilles for a bit and then make a smooth paste of coconut, chillies and tamarind with some water.
• Add the paste to the cooked chana and boil well, adjust salt to taste.
• Temper with mustard, curry leaves and hing. I use coconut oil for tempering.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Spiced beverage

In most konkani households it is customary to offer guests the choice of kashaay as a beverage along with tea or coffee. The kashaya piTTo (powder) is usually made and stocked in airtight containers for a few months at a time. The base ingredients are coriander seeds and jeera and some saunf. Other ingredients like pepper or methi can also be added according to individual taste. I like the taste of saunf and hence I add it generously. This kashaya has a soothing effect on the body and also aids in digestion and needless to add it tastes yummy. People prefer to drink this over tea or coffee especially in the evenings.

Ingredients

To make kashaaya piTTo (powder)

• Whole coriander seeds - 1 cup
• Whole jeera - half cup
• Whole saunf - half cup (or less)

To make kashaay

• kashaaya piTTo
• Milk and water
• sugar

Method

• To make the kashaya piTTo, dry roast the ingedients on a low flame, one ingedient at a time till you get a nice aroma.
• Let the ingredients cool down at room temperature and then powder them in a grinder. Store in an airtight container.
• To make the kashaay, to half cup of water, add a spoonful of the kashaya powder, sugar to taste and bring to a boil. Add milk and let it rest for a bit.
• Strain the beverage and serve. You can adjust the quantity of water, milk and sugar according to taste.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Red chutney

The most common konkani breakfast will be either idli or some variety of dosa. To break the monotony different kind of chutneys are made. This tambDe chutney is one of a typical konkani chutney that my mother makes a lot especially with idli.

Ingredients

• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Whole dried red chillies - 4 or 5 (adjust according to taste)
• Tamarind - about half inch
• Mustard seeds - half spoon
• Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
• Curry leaves - a few
• Coconut oil - a spoonful
• Salt to taste

Method

• Grind the coconut, chillies, tamarind and salt with a little water. Adjust the spice and salt according to taste
• For tempering, heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds and let it sputter. Next add hing and curry leaves and add the tempering to the chutney.
• Serve with idli or dosa

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Buttermilk gravy

There are different versions of buttermilk kaDis that are part of the konkani cuisine. This one has garlic in it and it doesnt require any cooking. I recently made this and the 6 year old loved it. So it is another addition to week night, kid-friendly dinners these days. It gets ready in just 5 minutes. I usually dont make buttermilk, so I take some yogurt, mix it well and dilute with enough water.

Ingredients

• Buttermilk - 2 cups
• Oil
• Garlic cloves - 2,3
• Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat some oil in a pan, crush the garlic pods and add it to the hot oil.
• Fry the garlic in a low flame till a nice aroma comes out. Switch off the flame.
• Add some chilli powder (per taste) to the hot oil (dont fry anymore)
• Add this garlic tempering to the buttermilk and add salt to taste. Serve with rice and it is yummy.

Preparation time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 5 minutes

ivygourd sidedish

Tendli is one of the favourite veggies at home. It is liked in all forms and as such I make different dishes with it. I had posted a similar recipe years ago . Though the ingredients are exactly the same, it tastes different because of the way the tenDli is crushed here and not cut. Bits of each tenDli’s small ends are cut and then each tenDli is crushed with a small stone (or in a mortar). The trick is to do enough damage to each tendli so that it has some slits on it but it still remains as a single piece :). All the masalas get into the slits and also the cooking time is fast. I use coconut oil for this recipe. But you can choose any oil.

Ingredients

• Ivygourd crushed- about 20-25
• Oil
• Mustard seeds
• Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
• Once they stop popping, add the crushed tenDlis, salt to taste and cover with a lid.
• When it is closed to being cooked, add some chilli powder and fry some more. Keep frying till the tenDlis are cooked and the outside is slightly brown in color

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes

paapad sidedish

I have finally decided to move out of my inertia and dust my long forgotten blog. Today for lunch I made a really simple konakni fare. I made this happaLa pachaDi to go with rice and saru. These spicy happaLs are a must in every konkani household (red pappad - though the translation is not accurate). I am hoping to make these happaLs someday and post that recipe too. I dont like eating happaLs for every meal like some konkani people do, but every now and then I do long to eat them.

Ingredients

• Grated coconut - about 3 tablespoons
• Onion cut into small pieces - about 1 tablespoon
• Green chilles - 1
• Roasted happaL - 2

Method

• Mix the coconut, onions and green chillies beforehand.
• Add the crushed happal just before serving
• You can adjust the proportion of the above ingredients as per your taste and preference. There is no need to add salt as happaL already is salty.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Crab Curry

I was not a big fan of crab when I was growing up. But now I like it a lot and so does the kid. When it comes to seafood, I am very picky and like only the traditional konkani preparation. This is my mother’s recipe for kurle ambat. I have no idea how to clean the crab. I get the cooked snow crab clusters, break them into small pieces and use in my preparation.

Here is a step by step prepartion of the crab curry. If you are using fresh raw crab, then you will have to clean it before using in the curry.

Ingredients

• Cooked snowcrab - 2
• Chopped onion - 1 big or 2 small
• Green chillies (optional) - 2
• Grated coconut - 3/4th cup
• Tamarind - a small marble sized
• Coriander seeds - 1.5 teaspoons
• Turmeric - A pinch
• Red chilles - 5 to 6
• Salt to taste

Method

• Cut the crab into pieces (I cut the frozen and cooked snow crab).
• Add the chopped onions, green chillies, some water and salt to it and boil. This step didnt take more than 5 minutes long for me as the crab was already cooked.
• Meanwhile dry roast the coriander seeds and red chillies. The crab curry is usually made less on the spicy side because the crab meat is sweet.
• Grind the roasted mixture with coconut, tamarind and turmeric powder to a smooth paste.
• Once the crab and onion mixture is cooked, add this ground paste to it and give a good boil.
• Crab curry is ready to be savored with rice.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10-12 minutes.