Spicy Horse Gram Curry/ Kulitha Ambat

Horse gram or kulith is often used in Konkani cuisine to make curries and dosa. Sprouting it increases the protein content and in Konkani's say consuming horse gram makes you fit as a horse. It is beneficial to reduce cold, cough and flue symptoms and helps in increasing energy and reducing fatigue. Pressure cooking this pulse makes it easier to cook. The sprouted horse gram is used to make Ambat and the soaked horse gram without sprouting is used to make Koddel. Ambat is a curry seasoned with onion and koddel is a curry seasoned with garlic. 

Ingredients
1 cup horse gram
1 cup cubed magge or konkani cucumber, yam (suran) or bottle gourd
1/4 cup cashew nuts (preferably raw cashew)
1/4 lemon sized tamarind
4-6 red chilies (preferably byadgi or kashmiri)
1 cup grated coconut
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon oil (preferably coconut oil)
salt for taste

Method

Wash horse gram well in water and soak it over night. Drain the water and put the horse gram in a thin muslin cloth and tie the ends of the cloth to make a bundle. Put some weight on the bundle using a stone or heavy vessel and keep aside for another 8 hours to allow the horse gram to sprout. 

Wash the horse gram sprouts well in water and pressure cook it with cubed vegetable till soft, but not mushy.

Roast the red chili on low flame for 3-5 minutes till it is crisp but not brown. Grind the chilies with the grated coconut and tamarind into a fine paste. Add the paste to the boiled sprouts and get it to a boil. Heat oil in a seasoning pan and add finely chopped onion to it. Fry the onion on low flame, sautéing continuously, till the onion is light brown and caramelized. Add the onion seasoning to the curry. Cover it for 5 - 10 minutes before serving to enable the flavor of the onion seasoning to infuse into the curry. Serve hot with rice.

Azuki Beans Curry / Bagde Koddel / Lal Chori Curry

Koddel is a Konkani curry with garlic seasoning. Check the recipe of Avre Koddel . The base of this curry is azuki beans and an optional vegetable like raw banana, yam or leafy vegetable like malabar spinach is added. This curry is served as a side dish with dal and rice or directly with rice. 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup azuki beans
2 cups cut malabar spinach or 1 cup cubed yam or 1 cup potato or 1 cup Konkani Cucumber or Dosakai 1 cup raw banana or 1 cup cubed raw papaya
1 1/2 cup grated coconut
5-6 fried red chilies (preferably byadgi)
1/4 lemon sized tamarind or 1 teaspoon concentrate
6-8 small garlic cloves
1 tablespoon oil (preferably coconut)


Method 

Wash azuki beans well in water and soak for at least 8 hours. Wash well again and cook with one of the optional vegetables in pressure cooker till the beans are soft but not mushy. Roast the red chili in 1/2 teaspoon oil and grind into a fine paste with tamarind and coconut adding as little water as possible. Mix the paste with the boiled pulse and add 1 cup water or as desired if you feel the curry is thick. Get the curry to a boil. Heat the remaining oil in a seasoning pan and add peeled garlic cloves. Fry on very low heat till the garlic cloves are light pink in color. Add the seasoning to the curry and keep it covered for 5-10 minutes to enable the flavor of the seasoning to infuse into the curry. Serve hot with rice.

Konkani Dal/ Dalithoy

Dalithoy is the simplest dal made almost daily in a Konkani household. There are many variations to this dal. Additionally turmeric and coriander leaves can be added for further variations. Serve with a drop of ghee and serve with rice and you have a tasty meal ready.

Ingredients
1 cup toor dal or split pigeon peas
green chili 2-3
1 teaspoon mustard
5-7 karipatta or curry leaves
heeng
red chili
1 tablespoon coconut oil
salt for taste

Method
Wash the toor dal well with water. Add slit green chilies and 3 cups water and cook it in pressure cooker till soft. I usually discard the green chilies and whisk it well with a whisker. The green chilies may be added back in the dal or discarded as desired. Add water as per desired and get the dal to a boil. Heat oil in a seasoning pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, switch off heat and add asafoetida, curry leaves and red chili. Sit well and add to the dal. Add salt as per taste and serve hot with rice. 

Gardudde Ambat / Bottlegourd in Coconut Sauce

Ambat is a Manglorean curry which consists of the basic Masolu and vegetables. Masolu is a thick paste made with grated coconut, tamarind and dry red chiles.

Ambat may or may not contain lentils. Moong ambat, takka ambat consists of plain masolu or gravy. While others like valli ambat have toor dal or pigeon peas. I find the ones with lentils more healthier as less coconut is used to prepare the gravy. 

During religious festivals ambat is prepared with mustard and curry leaves seasoning. Some of the ones I have earlier posted are Mooga randayi/Ambat, karate ambat and takka ambat. Some ambat curries are seasoned with fried garlic while others are seasoned with fried onion. Valli ambat and papaya ambat are such curry. Another famous ambat is cauliflower and peas ambat which I will post later. 

Ingredients 
1 medium bottle gourd
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup toor dal or pigeon peas
1 teaspoon coconut oil or any other oil
salt for taste

For the gravy or Masolu:
1/2 cup coconut
1 inch piece of tamarind
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
5-6 byadgi chili or red chilies or as desired

Method
Peel the bottle gourd and chop it into one inch pieces. Pressure cook the bottle gourd with toor dal, onions, salt and 2 cups of water. Cook till the toor dal is well done. Stir the toor dal and vegetable with a ladle till the lentil is all mushy.
Fry the red chilies in a pan till they are crisp. Finely grind the red chilies along with grated coconut, tamarind, turmeric adding as little water as possible. Add this paste to the lentils and mix well. Add water as per desired consistency and get it to a boil. Fry the remaining chopped onion in the coconut oil till it is golden brown. Season the curry with the onions. Serve hot with rice.

Mangalore Prawn Curry / Sungta Masolu

Prawn is a delicacy and is loved by all Mangaloreans. Prawn curry is prepared by different ways all over the Konkan coast. In Maharashtra and Goa it is prepared with the spices like coriander, cumin and garlic. This recipe is a very traditional and simple recipe where the unique flavor of the prawns is not over powered by many spices. It is traditionally served with boiled rice and Mangalorean fish fry.  The flavor of the prawns increases as time goes along. It tastes better the day after it is made.It is a good idea to make this curry at least 2-3 hours before serving. 


Ingredients 
10-15 prawns
2 cups grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or coin sized ball of tamarind
1 tablespoon coconut oil
8-10 dried red chillies (preferably byadgi chilly)
4 pinches of heeng or asafoetida
salt for taste


Method 
Fry the red chilies for 8-10 minutes on low flame till crisp. Grind the grated coconut, red chilies and tamarind into a very fine paste. De-vein and clean the prawns well. Put the prawns and the coconut paste in a deep bottomed vessel and cook covered for 8-10 minutes on low flame or till the coconut paste comes to a boil. Uncover the vessel and add salt as per taste. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. 
Add asafoetida in 2 tablespoon of water and mix it well so that it partially dissolves in water. Sprinkle this water over the curry and mix well. Immediately pour the coconut oil all over the curry and give it one good stir. Place the lid over the vessel and keep covered to enable the flavors of asafoetida and the oil to be absorbed well into the curry. Serve hot with boiled rice. 

My Mom's Usal

 

We have always had a tradition of having a festive ("gad-da" in Konkani language) breakfast and lunch on Sundays. The breakfast menu would always be idli-sambar-chutney and lunch would start with fish or prawn fry and crab or any seafood curry or chicken biryani or chicken curry with rice. My mom also prepared a curry called "Usal" which goes very well with idlis. I have always preferred this curry to sambar. It is also very healthy as it is made with fresh peas.

But with all the health tips and health articles floating around on the internet advising on eating more of fat free food, we have simplified our food preparation living in US. Also with my hubby being a vegetarian we mostly prepare vegetables freshly bought from our local farmer's market. This weekend I decided to prepare my mom's rich curry which she specially prepares as a side dish to have with idli's. It also goes great with hot rice. This curry is more liquid-ish in nature and has very few vegetables, so it makes a great sauce to dunk hot idlis. It is a great alternative to the humble sambar and its spicy garlic flavor makes a great treat for any Sunday morning. So here is my mom's spicy Usal recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups green peas (frozen or fresh)

2 medium potatoes or 1 large one

2 medium onions

2 1/2 cups grated coconut

10-12 red chilies or as per taste

2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon garam masala

coin sized ball of tamarind

1 whole garlic (10-12 cloves)

salt for taste

2 tablespoon coconut oil or any other oil

Method

Fry the red chilies for 8-10 minutes on low flame till crisp. Then fry the grated coconut for 5-10 minutes till it is slightly roasted and light brown in color. Roast the coriander seeds till light brown. Fry on low flame taking care not to burn the ingredients. Let the ingredients cool down.
Peel the onion and chop it into medium pieces. Peel the potato and chop it into 1 cm cubes. Microwave the peas if they are frozen. Boil the potato, onion and 1 1/4 cup peas in 2 cups of water. Boil till the potato is soft. Keep aside.
Now grind the roasted coconut, coriander, red chilies, tamarind, garam masala and 3/4 cup of peas into a very smooth paste adding 1 cup wate or more if required. Mix this paste with the boiled vegetables. Get the curry to a boil with more water if required. Salt the curry as per taste.

Peel the garlic cloves and crush them very slightly. Heat oil in a pan and fry the garlic on low flame till it is light brown. Add this seasoning to the curry and cover the curry for 10-15 minutes so that the flavor of the seasoning is absorbed by the curry. Serve hot with idlis or with rice.

Curd Curry/ Takka Ambat

I tasted this curry at my friend C's home and I got this recipe from her. This ambat is another twist to the normal "Randayi" or coconut curry made in a typical Konkani home. Ambat means "sour" in Konkani and curd is added in the end to give this curry a tangy taste.

Alsando or chawli (long beans), raw banana, magge (also called Konkani cucumber or lemon cucumber), ashgourd (called kuvale in Konkani and petha in Hindi), yam or suran and ghosale (ridge gourd) can be used to make this curry. Which ever vegetable is on hand can be used individually or in a combination with the other vegetable. I used raw banana and long beans to make this curry.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetables cut in cubes (choose from the above mentioned vegetables; I used raw banana and long beans)

 1 cup grated coconut

 1/2 cup curd or yogurt

3-4 red chilies (byadgi or kashmiri chili will give the curry a rich red color)

4 pea-sized piece of tamarind or 1/4th teaspoon tamarind concentrate

1 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil or any other oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

5-8 curry leaves or karipatta

1 teaspoon jaggery or gur or 1 teaspoon sugar

Method 

Boil or pressure cook the vegetables in a little amount of water and a pinch of salt. Fry the chilies in 1/2 teaspoon oil. Grind into a fine paste with tamarind, jaggery and coconut using as little water as possible. Mix the paste with the boiled vegetables and get the curry to a boil. Mix curd with water need to get the curry to a desired consistency. Remove any lumps in the curd. Add the curd to the curry and salt the curry as per taste. 

Cook on low flame for another 2-3 minutes. 

Seasoning:

Heat coconut oil in a seasoning pan and add mustard. When the mustard starts to splutter, switch off the gas and add curry leaves. Stir and add it to the curry. Cover the curry for 5 minutes so that the flavor from the seasoning gets infused into the curry. Serve hot with rice. 

Udupi Sambar / Lentils with Vegetables

Udupi cuisine strictly includes vegetarian recipes as it is part of temple cuisine. The cuisine in this part of the region revolves around fresh vegetables, leaves, pulses and fruits. The rich soil and abundant rainfall in the region helps to support variety of vegetables, grains and fruit crops. The commonly grown vegetables include beans, pumpkin, gourds, ivy gourds, raw bananas, raw jackfruit. Different leaves used are Valli (Malabar Spinach), colocasia, turmeric leaves, banana leaves, curry leaves, coriander leaves, brahmi leaves and many others. Variety of fruits like mango, pineapple, jackfruit, grapes and banana are used to prepare desserts like halwas and main course dishes like sassam. The vegetable is used to its fullest--even skins of ridge gourds, bottle gourds are used to prepare chutney and the skin of raw banana is used to prepare "Upkari" or sabzi. Coconut is used in abundance to prepare chutneys, curries, sweets and in salads like koshimbiris. Mangalorean and Konkani cuisine is also derives lot from Udipi cuisine, but it also includes seafood and meat dishes which contain onion and garlic and are a strict no-no in Udupi cuisine.
Udupi sambar is another kind of sambar which we make at home. I use Madras onions or shallots in this recipe. Onions can be skipped if it is not desired in the sambar. This recipe calls for making the sambar masala from scratch. It has a very different taste and texture than the other sambar recipe which I posted earlier. It goes well with rice, dosa or idli. I am reposting this recipe for the WYF:Specialty food event.

Ingredients
1/2 cup toor dal
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 green chili
1 tomato
1 cup chopped vegetables (potato (is a must at my home), lady's finger (okra), eggplant (brinjal), drumstick, cauliflower, ivy gourd (tendli), carrot, beans, pumpkin (squash), ash gourd, bottle gourd, peas -- use just one vegetable or combination of which ever vegetable is available on hand )
15-20 shallots or small red onions (washed and peeled)
1 teaspoon jaggery
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Ground Paste:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 1/2 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon chana dal
1 teaspoon fenugreek or methi seeds
3 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon tuemeric powder
1/4 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
7-8 byadgi red chilies or as per taste
3-4 pepper corns

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida
around 15 curry leaves
coconut oil or any other oil
salt for taste

Method
Fry methi seeds till it is pink. Then fry tor dal and chana dal till it is crisp and light pink in color. Then fry coriander seeds, cumin, pepper corns and red chilies. Add 6 curry leaves and fry till they are crisp. Add the grated coconut and fry on low flame till crisp. Fry all the ingredients on a low or medium flame so that they don't burn. Cool the ingredients and then grind them with little water into a smooth paste.
Boil the toor dal, mash it and keep it aside.
Add 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and add slit green chili. Fry for a minute and then add the onions. Fry for 5-6 minutes and add chopped tomato and vegetables. Fry for 5 minutes and add the tamarind concentrate and jaggery. Add 2 cups of water and cook the vegetables till soft.
Mix the toor dal, the masala paste and the vegetables in a vessel and add desired quantity of water. Salt it as per taste. Get the sambar to a boil. Season the sambar with oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice, dosa or idli.

Bhangda Ghashi / Konkani Fish Curry / Manglorean Fish Curry

We make two types of fish curry at home. This is the one which uses coriander and fenugreek and other one uses ginger as the spices. Ghashi is a typical Konkani curry with coriander and fenugreek added to the coconut masala to form the base gravy. Fish or any vegetables can then be added to this gravy. This curry tastes better with time and it is a good idea to prepare this curry 2-3 hours before serving. 


Ingredients
1 bhangda fish
3/4 cup grated coconut (I used frozen sliced coconut)
2-3 byadgi chili (or as desired)
4 fenugreek seeds
1 medium onion
1 green chili
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 pea size piece of tamarind or 1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 teaspoon coconut oil
salt for taste

Method
Clean the fish and cut into around an inch slices. Toast the coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds for 2-4 minutes till a little crisp. Grind it into a smooth paste with coconut, chili and tamarind. Chop the onion and green chili finely. Press it well with your fingers mixing in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix the coconut masala and cook it on a low-medium flame till the masala comes to a boil. Mix in the fish pieces and cook uncovered for another 5-8 minutes or till the fish is cooked. Sprinkle coconut oil all over the curry and switch off the gas. Keep it covered for 5-10 minutes so that the flavor of the coconut oil is infused into the curry. Serve hot with rice.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 1-2

Konkani Karate Ambat / Bittergourd Curry

Everyone in my home loves bitter gourds. I make quite a number of items using bitter gourd. This is one of my mom's recipes which she would make very often. Unless there is an index of recipes, one tends to forget to make some of the recipes and that's what happened with my mom. She didn't make this bitter gourd for quite some time and we never remembered this amidst all the other tasty dishes she makes. Recently, I remembered this curry and asked her for the recipe and this has become a regular at my home now. This dish requires very tender and young bitter gourds. The more tender the bitter gourds are the tastier the curry!!

Ingredients
1 bitter gourd
6-7 beans or cluster beans
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tablespoon jaggery
3 roasted red chilies
small piece of tamarind (size of two peas)
1 teaspoon mustard
5-6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon oil for seasoning
salt for taste

Method
Scrape the skin and cut the bitter gourd into round circles. If the bitter gourds are very bitter, then mix salt into the cut pieces and keep aside for half an hour. Then squeeze the bitter water from the bitter gourd pieces. Cut the ends of the beans and slit each beans into two. Then cut the beans into one inch pieces. Cook the bitter gourd and beans in very little water till it is soft. Grind the coconut, jaggery, red chilies and tamarind into a very fine paste. Add the masala to the vegetables and get the curry to a boil. Season the curry with mustard and curry leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2

Pepper Rasam

Pepper rasam is a great comfort food to have on cold wintery days. It is a great home remedy for colds, fevers and sore throat. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon rasam powder
4-5 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
2 tablespoon cooked toor dal (for better consistency)
1 medium tomato chopped
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1/4 teaspoon pepper powder or as desired
salt for taste

Method
Combine the chopped tomato, toor dal, rasam powder, pepper powder and tamarind. Add 3 cups of water and get the rasam to a boil. Add coriander leaves and salt for taste. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot.

Palak Dal / Indian Lentils with Spinach

There are a zillion ways to make dal. This recipe is just more than the normal dal and any green leafy vegetable like palak or spinach, methi, malabar spinach can be added to it. I got this recipe from my friend Pri. She is a great cook and is a very patient and meticulate in her cooking methods. The last time we had lunch together she had got this dal and I took the recipe from her. This dal is very easy to prepare and goes well with roti too.

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
1 bunch palak or spinach
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of heeng
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oil or ghee
salt for taste


Method
Wash and chop the palak and the tomato. Wash the dal and keep aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric powder and chili powder. Add chopped palak and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped tomato and stir for 2 minutes. Add the dal and 2 1/2 cups of hot water. Pressure cook till the dal is soft. Serve with roti or rice.

Capsicum Peanut Curry

This is a colorful curry made from capsicum, peanuts and tomato. This is my mom's recipe which I used to love during my childhood days. This is a different kind of curry as compared to the other Konkani curries as it uses soaked peanuts. The peanuts need to be soaked for around 1- 1/2 day so that it sprouts. The water in which the peanuts are soaked needs to be changed every 6-8 hours. If you find sprouted peanuts in your local market you can use those too. My mother also uses a little rice to thicken the curry. This curry goes well with rice and dal.

Ingredients
1 green capsicum or bell pepper
2 medium tomatoes
1 cup soaked peanuts
1 tablespoon rice (uncooked)
1 cup coconut
3-4 red chilies or as per taste
small piece of tamarind
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
pinch of asafoetida or hing
7 curry leaves
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Boil or pressure cook the peanuts with a little salt till soft. Chop the capsicum and tomato into one inch by one inch pieces. Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan and fry the capsicum till soft. Take care not to burn it..so fry it on low or medium flame. After it is soft on all sides add the tomato and fry it for 5 minutes. Add the peanuts and switch off the flame. Fry the rice in a seasoning pan on a low flame till it is crisp. Grind the coconut, tamarind, red chilies and rice into a fine paste. Add this masala to the vegetables and cook covered and get the curry to a boil. Add salt as per taste. Season with mustard seeds, asaoetida and curry leaves.

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Malabar Spinach Curry / Valli Randayi / Valli Ambat

My husband and I are great fans of Malabar spinach or "Valli" as we call it in Konkani. We find malabar spinach in the chinese markets or at the Indian stores. Sometimes it is also available at the farmers market. I have seen recipes where this vegetable is just chopped and added to sambar or dal. Due to its deep green color it has similar nutritive value as spinach. Both the stems and leaves are added to the curry. When the curry is prepared, the stem absorbs the flavors of the curry. The stem cannot be completely eaten unless it is very tender. So the stem is just chewed and the fibrous part is discarded, similar to eating drumsticks. Read more about malabar spinach here. 

Masolu is a gravy paste made by finely grinding coconuts, tamarind and dried red chili. In South Canara which consists of Mangalore and Udipi region, turmeric is not added while making coconut curries. In North Canara region which consists of Karwar, Murdeshwar, Ankola, Kumta and other towns, using turmeric while making Masolu is very common. Turmeric being a very good antiseptic and anti inflammatory spice, finds a place in lot of curries and subzi's I prepare at home. 

Ingredients
1 bunch malabar spinach or valli (approximately 4-5 cups chopped malabar spinach. The leaves are chopped into 12 inch pieces. The stems are also used in the curry. Chop the stems into one inch pieces.) 
1 cup magge (Konkani cucumber) or raw papaya (optional)
1/2 cup toor dal or pigeon peas
1 cup coconut
3 red byadgi chilies
small piece of tamarind
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon oil
salt for taste

for seasoning:
6 garlic pods


or
1 medium onion

or
mustard seeds
asafoetida

Method

Wash the malabar spinach and chop it into 1 inch pieces. Chop both the leaves and stems. Pressure cook the papaya or magge and malabar spinach till soft. Pressure cook the toor dal till soft. Saute the coriander seeds for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Grind the coconut, coriander seeds, red chilies and tamarind into a fine paste. Mix the toor dal, spinach and coconut masala in a vessel. Get the curry to boil. 


Season the curry with mustard, turmeric and asafoetida. Optionally, crush the garlic pods and fry them till pink. Or a third variety of seasoning, the finely chopped onion can be fried in a tablespoon of coconut oil till crisp. The onion should be fried on medium or low flame for around 10-15 minutes. The onion should not be allowed to burn or the curry may taste bitter. 


Add any one of the above kind of seasoning to the curry and serve hot with rice.

Konkani Crab Curry / Kurle Randayi

Crab curry is one of my favorite curry. We lived in Bhopal for 8 years and we would get any crab here as there was no sea nearby. So whenever we visited Bombay, Goa, Bhatkal or Bangalore during holidays, our relatives would usually make fish, prawn or crab recipes knowing that fresh seafood was not available in Bhopal. It would be a real treat to have cheerful meal and chat with all the relatives whom we would be meeting after long time.

I got crab from Whole foods last week and prepared Crab curry. They cleaned the crab for me and cut it into small pieces. I usually don't buy whole crab as it is a messy procedure to clean it. The crab smell lingers in my kitchen and on my fingers and my husband hates the fishy smell. The crab curry should be prepared at least 3-4 hours before serving as the crab needs time to absorb all the flavors. I also serve it with boiled rice or "Ukdo Tandla Sheeet" in Konkani. Here is the crab curry recipe.

Ingredients
1 crab cleaned and cut
2 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
2 medium red onions
1 1/2 cups coconut
3/4 teaspoon tamarind paste
1-2 green chilies
3-4 red byadgi chili
coconut oil or any other oil

Method

If the crab legs are big and hard then they can be beaten with a pestle or better following the ancient way like me- with a clean stone which I keep handy for crushing garlic, ginger or other spices. Roast the red chilies in 1/4 teaspoon oil for 5-10 mintes on low flame. Grind coconut, red chili and tamarind into a very fine paste. Keep the masala aside. Finely chop 1 1/2 onion and green chili. Crush the ginger, onion and green chili with your fingers or with the back of a spoon or cup. Add the coconut masala and the crab pieces. Cook covered on a low to medium flame to get the curry to a boil. Finely chop the remaining half onion and fry it in coconut oil on a low flame till it is pinkish-brown. Garnish the curry with the fried onion and serve it with hot rice.

Pumpkin Leaf Curry / Dudde Panna Kadi or Tamboli

This is another of Konkani traditional recipe made with tender pumpkin leaves. I get very fresh squash leaves at my farmer's market. We usually make tamboli or green curry out of pumpkin leaves , so I thought why not try it with the squash leaves. This was another of my grand mom's favorite recipes. While serving tamboli with rice, usually curd or unsweetened yogurt is served as a side dish to add a tangy taste.

Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin leaves
4-5 pepper corns
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
salt for taste
2 green chilies
small piece of tamarind
1/2 cup coconut
1 teaspoon ghee

Method
Wash and chop the pumpkin leaves. Add some ghee in a pan and fry jeera and pepper corns. Add and cook the leaves for 4-5 minutes till they wilt. Remove from heat and grind it into a smooth paste with rest of the ingredients. Traditionally, the tamboli is not heated after grinding and is served with rice and curd as a side dish. But, here in winter it is very cold, so I heat the tamboli on the gas or in the microwave and serve it with rice and omit curd.


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2

Thai Forest Curry

I love Thai food as they use a lot of vegetables and lemon grass. One of my friend had invited us some weeks back and made excellent Thai curry with chicken and vegetables. Upon asking, she gave me this Thai curry paste which she had used to prepare the curry.
Some time back after shopping at the Mountain View Farmer's market we went to Amrin Thai restaurant for lunch. We tried the forest curry and it tasted similar to the curry paste which my friend had given me. I also loved this curry because it didn't have coconut (which is a major source of fat in Konkani cooking and we try to avoid the excess use of coconut in our day-to-day cuisine). It also was very spicy and I thought it would make a great dish for people suffering from cold, cough or sore throat. The next week, I bought Shiitake mushrooms and lemon grass from the farmer's market and tried to make this curry just like it had tasted at Amrin Thai. I am not sure if I used all the correct ingredients used in Thai curry, but it turned out to be great.

Ingredients
8-10 Shiitake mushrooms
2 cups chopped vegetables (choose or mix and match from pumpkin, brocoli, beans, carrot, baby corn)
1/2 capsicum
2 tablespoon long sliced bamboo shoots
3-4 strands of coriander or cilantro leaves
6-7 very thin slices of ginger
2 tablespoon lemon grass chopped in rings
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon red curry paste or as per taste
pepper powder for taste
3 byadgi or kashmiri chilies
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or as per taste
salt for taste
1 teaspoon oil

Method

Soak the red chilies in water for 20 minutes. Slit the chilies and remove the seeds and grind it into a very fine paste with 1 cup of water. Add another cup of water to this paste and add ginger, pepper powder, garlic cloves and lemon grass root and boil it for 20 minutes. Discard the garlic cloves. Add red curry paste, tamarind juice. Slice the capsicum and fry it on all sides in one teaspoon of oil. Add the capsicum, bamboo shoots, mushroom and vegetables and boil till soft. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Preparation time: 50 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Lentil Curry without Coconut / Konkani Sar Upkari

This is one of the healthy dishes made with lentils. Coconut is not used to make this curry. I make this dish very often during the weekends when we feel like eating something light. While boiling the vegetables and the beans, add just the required amount of water. The water in which the vegetables and beans are boiled is used to liquidify the curry, so don't throw the water after boiling the vegetables. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup lentils (choose from white navy beans or whole toor dal, whole peas, whole dried yellpw peas, whole moong, whole mooth, whole chana, horse gram (kulith), adzuki beans, black eyed beans)
1/2 cup cubed vegetables(choose from ash gourd, raw papaya, potato, yam(suran), bottle gourd)
1 teaspoon coconut oil or any oil
2-3 green chilies
salt for taste

Seasoning:
3-4 pods of garlic
Or
1 teaspoon mustard
1 pinch of asafoetida

Method
Soak the beans over night. Wash the beans and pressure cook them with slit green chilies and 1/4 teaspoon salt till the beans are soft. Cook the cubed vegetable in water till soft. Add the vegetables to the beans. In a seasoning pan add oil and heat it. Add crushed garlic pods and fry the pods till they are pink in color. Optionally, you can add mustard and asafoetida to the oil instead of garlic. Add the seasoning to the curry and adjust salt. Serve hot with rice and dal.

Preparation time: 25 minutes excluding soaking time
Serves: 3-4

Kolhapuri Vegetable Curry / Rassa Bhaji

This is a very spicy and tangy curry which is perfect to have on a cold, rainy day. Kolhapuri curries or sabzi is spicy and very flavorful. Kolhapuri chicken and mutton curries are very popular in Maharashtra. "Rassa" means gravy, so the curries usually have quite a bit of gravy with the meat or vegetables. I decided to try this rassa curry using vegetables. The red color of the curry is due to the byadgi chili I use in the masala. This chili is mild in pungency and imparts a very red color to the curry. Alternatively, Kashmiri chili can also be used to impart red color.  Byadgi or kashmiri chilies are less pungent in flavor. Other varieties of chilies can be used to impart more pungency. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients
1 capsicum
1 potato
3 cups cauliflower cut into big pieces of 2 inches each
1/2 cup peas
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
3 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
4-5 red chilies (byadgi)
1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
3 tablespoon grated coconut
3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
2 cardamom
6 tablespoon coriander leaves or cilantro
2-3 pepper corn
oil for frying
salt for taste

Method

Cut capsicum into two inch pieces each and fry it for 5-10 minutes till brown on all sides. Fry cauliflower for 4-5 minutes on high flame till crisp. Chop onion into small pieces. In a tablespoon of oil add chopped ginger and onion. Fry onion till brown. Chop tomatoes into small pieces and add it to the onion. Cook tomato till soft.
Soak red chilies in water for 5-10 minutes. Grind red chilies, coconut, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, coriander seeds and cumin seeds into a very fine paste. Add this paste to the tomato-onion mixture. Add tamarind and salt for taste. Add the vegetables in the curry and cook the curry till the vegetables are soft. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with roti or rice

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Vegetables in Coconut Milk / Avial / Valval

This is another of traditional Manglorean vegetable curry. Traditionally, valval was made in plentiful during the rainy season when the vegetables like ivy gourds and cowpeas beans or yardlong beans were in plenty. It also uses vegetables like ridge gourd, pumpkin (it is a must), ashgourd, potato, magge ( yellow, oval cucumber)...I guess it is also called Dosakai (they name it so at my local Indian grocery store.). You may also add carrot, peas, snappeas and normal or baby corn. The recipe uses coconut milk, which can be easily found in Indian or International grocery stores in the US, or can be prepared using the following recipe. Here is the recipe for valval.

Ingredients
1/2 cup cubed pumpkin
1/2 cup yardlong beans chopped into 1 inch long pieces
11/2 cups of mixed vegetable (choose from ivy gourds, ridge gourd, ashgourd, potato, magge, carrot, peas, snappeas, corn(baby or normal))
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds or jeera
2 pinches haldi or turmeric powder (to obtain the light yellow color)
1 teaspoon ghee or clarified butter
6-7 curry leaves
3 green chilies (thai chilies) or as per taste
pinch of asafoetida
salt for taste

Tips:
The secret behind this dish or any other mixed vegetable is to cut the vegetables into almost equal pieces so that they cook evenly. Else you can cook all the vegetables separately. I usually cut the vegetables into inch to half inch long pieces.

I usually cook all the vegetables and when I switch off the heat, I add the ridge gourd pieces and cover the vessel. Ridge gourd cooks very fast and just the heat from the other cooked vegetables is sufficient to cook it.

The ridge gourd can be skinned or be used with the skin. I skin the ridge gourd and use the skin to make chutney. I never throw the ridge gourd skin as it contains lot of nutrients. I sometimes even leave the skin in the freezer if I am not using it immediately.
I skin the pumpkin, but in India we get pumpkin with a thin skin and we usually don't remove the skin. Same with the ash gourd. You need not skin the other vegetables.
Do not throw the water in which the vegetable are boiled. You can add this to the curry to get it to a desired consistency or use it as vegetable stock to flavor soups.
I cook all the vegetables together with around 1/4 teaspoon salt so that they are salted before adding them to the curry. But be careful when you salt the curry.

Method
Cook all the vegetables till soft. Heat the coconut milk with slit green chilies. When the coconut milk is heated, add the vegetables and get the curry to a boil. This will facilitate all the vegetable flavors to be blended in the curry. In a seasoning pan, add ghee and heat it. When it heats up add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds splutter, remove from heat and add cumin seeds, turmeric and curry leaves. Add this hot seasoning to the vegetables and cover the vessel with a lid.
The flavor of the seasoning will be absorbed by the curry. Serve the curry hot with rice.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 3-4