Rasam

Rasam or saar is another Konkani traditional dishes. Traditionally, toor dal is not added to it, but I add it as a thickening agent. It can also be had as a soup on a cold chilly day. Chana dal stock or the water used to boil chana or any vegetable stock can be added to the rasam to enhance the flavor.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoon rasam powder
2 tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 strand curry leaves
1 teaspoon mustard
5 pinches asafoetida
1/2 cup cooked toor dal (optional)
10 tablespoon coriander leaves (chopped)
chilli powder (optional)
salt for taste

Method
Chop tomatoes into small pieces. Add water in a vessel and add tomatoes, tamarind and rasam powder. Get to a boil and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Add toor dal and coriander leaves, salt and adjust chili powder and water as per desired consistency. Get to a boil again. Heat oil in a seasoning pan and add mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add the seasoning to the rasam. Serve hot with rice, curd and papad.


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Dry Coconut Chutney / Chutney Pitti

Chutney Powder or Chutney Pitti (in Konkani) is one of the handy things for breakfast or lunch. Young children are given this as a sidedish along with rice mashed with hot milk. This chutney can be relished with dosa, idli, rice, chapatti and bread. Chutney sandwich was one of my favorite tiffin dishes and is great to carry for travel. Apply butter on one side of each bread slice and apply chutney and serve. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup Kopra or grated dry coconut
3/4 cup putani dal or split dalia












small ball of tamarind
dry red chilies --about a handful or as per taste
1 cup curry leaves or 1/2 cup roasted garlic pods
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
salt for taste

Method

Roast the dry coconut on medium heat for 10 minutes. Then roast the dalia for around 10 minutes. Also roast the red chilies and curry leaves or garlic separately for 10 minutes each. Cool all the roasted ingredients. Grind all the ingredients into a smooth, dry powder along with tamarind, asafoetida and salt. Store in a dry jar and this remains good for a month.


Preparation time: 40 minutes

Lal Math Sabzi / Tambdi Bhaji Upkari

I make a lot of leafy vegetable sabzi's as they are considered to be very nutritious. In Maharashtra this leafy vegetable is called lal math. My mother makes coconut-based curry with this vegetable and I will post that recipe subsequently. This vegetable is available during the summer season here. I buy this every time I see this at the grocery store and make this delicious sabzi.



Ingredients
2 bunches of lal math
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pinches asafoetida
1 teaspoon oil
1 medium onion chopped (optional)
salt for taste
2-3 dry red chilies
2 tablespoon grated coconut(optional)

Method
Wash the bhaji leaves well and chop them coarsely. Add oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add asafoetida and broken red chili. If you are adding onion, then add the chopped onion and fry till transparent. Add the chopped leaves and cook and cover on a low flame for 10-15 minutes or till soft. Add salt as per taste and garnish with grated coconut. Serve with chapatti or rice.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Kidney Beans Curry / Rajma

Rajma and chole is my favorite comfort food. Bread-rajma, puri-rajma, rajma-chawal are great combinations other than the regular rajma-roti. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients
1 cup rajma
1 cup chopped onion
3 medium tomatoes
1 cup cilantro or coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 green chili
2 teaspoon chana masala (I used MDH chana masala..it contains coriander and cumin powder)
3 tablespoon yogurt
chili powder for taste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 pinches asafoetida
salt for taste
2 tablespoon oil

Method
Pressure cook rajma with 1/2 teaspoon salt till it is soft. Drain out the excess water. In a pan add oil, asafoetida, turmeric, cumin seeds. Fry for a minute. Add ginger-garlic paste and finely chopped green chilies and fry for another minute. Add chopped onion and fry till transparent. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Add the chole masala and coriander powder and mix well. Gently crush the paste with a masher. Add rajma and cook well till the masala is well absorbed. Add 2 cups of water, yogurt, salt, chili powder, cilantro. Mash with a masher again; this time to crush some of the rajma beans. This will result in a thicker gravy. Cook for around 20 minutes till a desired consistency of gravy is reached. Garnish with garam masala.


Preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 3-4

Indian Lentil Stew / Sambar / Kolmbo / Kolumbo

Sambar or Kolmbo (as it is called in Konkani) is one of the traditional Konkani recipies. It can also be had a soup or with idli or dosa.

Ingredients
2 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoon sambar powder or Kolmbo pitti
2 cups toor or arhar dal or pigeon peas
1/2 cup tamarind juice prepared by soaking tamarind or 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 onion or 1 cup chopped madras onions or shallots (see here.)
1 potato
2 cups vegetables (you can add any of these vegetables as per your preference or availability- eggplant (brinjal), drumstick, cauliflower, ivy gourd (tendli), carrot, beans, pumpkin (squash), ash gourd)
1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
salt for taste
chili powder if needed
3 table spoon cilantro or coriander leaves
10-12 curry leaves
2 tablespoon oil

Method

Cut all the vegetables into approximately equal size. Boil or pressure cook all the vegetables and potato till soft. Don't overcook the vegetables. Pressure cook the toor dal. Beat the dal with a hand beater till smooth. Chop tomato into small pieces. Cook tomato with sambar powder and tamarind paste/juice till the tomato is soft.
In another pan fry onion in 1 teaspoon oil till transparent. We fry it so that the onion loses its raw smell. The onion helps to give a sweetish taste to the sambar. Add the vegetables, dal, fried onion and tomato mixture into a large pot. Add water as per desired consistency. Add salt and chili powder as per taste. Cook on a low flame for around 20 minutes and get it to a boil.
In a seasoning pan, add mustard seeds and 1/2 teaspoon oil. When the mustard seeds splutter add curry leaves and add this to the sambar. Mix well and remove from heat. Keep covered for another 5 minutes till the flavor of the seasoning blends well with the sambar. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rice, dosa or idli.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Moong Sabzi / Moong Usal

Moong sabzi or moong usal is a very easy and nutritious recipe. It goes well with both rice and chappati and is great for tiffins. You can buy sprouted moong at the grocery store or sprout it at home. To sprout moong, soak it in warm water for around 12 hours. Wash the moong well and tie it in a muslin cloth. Sprinkle handful of water over the muslin cloth bag to keep it wet. Keep a heavy weight over the muslin cloth bag and let it remain for another 12 hrs. If you don't have a muslin cloth, just let it remain in any vessel in a warm place for 12 hours after draining the water.



Ingredients
2 cups of sprouted moong
2 table spoon chopped coriander or cilantro
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt as per taste
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pinches asafoetida
6-7 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon maharashtrian goda masala (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sugar or gur
1 teaspoon oil

Method
Heat oil and and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric powder. Add the moong and cook covered till the moong is soft. Add salt, sugar/gur and chili powder for taste. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with chapatti or rice.

Preparation time: 25 minutes excluding sprouting time
Serves: 2