Ambade is one of the very common vegetable used in Konkani food. Ambade(hog plums/amtekayi/ambazhanga) trees are commonly found in backyards of most of the houses in our region. There are two types of ambades – sour and sweet. This is a seasonal vegetable. Tender ambades of both types are used in pickles and as souring agents in many dishes.
Some of the dishes we make with ambades are Gojju, Sasam, ghashi(Rosu/Udid methi) , gravies .
Sasam is one of the traditional Konkani dish prepared in different ways. I am posting here the way in which my grandmother used to prepare. I have been making this dish for many years now.
Ingredients: 2 big ambades 3/4 cup coconut 2-3 green chillies 1/4 tea spn asafoetida Salt 2 tea spn jaggery
Method: Peel the outer skin of ambades and cook them in half cup of water with salt. Allow it to cool. After making a slit on chillies (to avoid splitting) dry roast green chilies on low flame(hold green chillies directly on flame). Grind grated coconut, green chillies and asafetida to a smooth paste using the water in which ambades were boiled. Add jaggery and smash the boiled amades in that(do not grind ambades). Ambade sasam is not heated. Ambade sasam is ready to serve. It can be used both with rice and chapattis. We prefer to eat with papad.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 20mins
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Wish you all a very happy new year. Hope you all have a healthy, peaceful and prosperous year.
I am not going to make any promises on this blog, because I was not able to keep any of them in 2011! On the bright side, Pappa had his medical checkup last week and his results were better- which was such a big relief for us. Thank you for your prayers.
As much as I love the snow, I am totally enjoying the not-so-cold winter this year. We had temperatures in 60s yesterday. We could walk in light jackets(there was a slight windchill). We welcomed the new year at a friend’s place, with a potluck. It was fun.
For last few weeks, I have been making a conscious effort to prepare and eat healthy dishes. My idlis/dosas now have brown rice in them, I use whole grain bread, almost no butter/ghee in the dishes, more soups and fruits. Everyday I make an effort to look for new healthy dishes.
Here is one soup that I have been making for a while. I make these kind of soups once a week for lunch.
Ingredients: 1 cup soaked chickpeas(garbanzo beans) 1/2 cup barley 2 cups vegetables – corn, zucchini, carrot, green beans, green peas, celery 1 cup tomatoes 2 tbl spns coriander leaves 1/2 tea spn cumin powder 1/2 tea spn chilli powder 1 tea spn chopped garlic Salt
Method: Mix all the ingredients, add 2 cups of water (or vegetable/chicken stock). Pressure cook them for about 4 whistles till everything is cooked through. Once cooked slightly mash the contents with a spoon (optional step). Serve hot.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins (if using pressure cooker)
PS: Most of the times I use rice cooker to make this. It comes out really well and you don’t have to keep an eye on it. Once done, I leave it on warm mode, so that we can enjoy warm soup whenever we want.
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