Beetroot leaves tambli
This year I went a little crazy with my vegetable patch. When the year started, I only wanted to grow tomatoes. I thought I would have a couple of plants, that is all. It was really hard to find time to care for the garden with a busy schedule. But then Covid-19 happened. We weren’t even getting groceries on time. I got worried and I wanted to grow everything possible in my garden. V’s cousin had brought some vegetable seed packets 3 years ago. I did not have too much hope but I put them all in the ground. It took a while but some of them sprouted and grew beautifully. One of them was beetroot. I have made all kinds of things with these fresh beautiful leaves. One of them was this refreshing, cooling beetroot leaves tambli.
Tambli is usually a raw, uncooked gravy. It sometimes has yogurt, sometimes made just with coconut. We make many varieties of tamblis. Each have their unique flavor. Here’s a list you may want to explore,
- Gooseberry tambli made with Indian gooseberry/avale,
- Palak tambli made with spinach/palak,
- Menthe tambli made with fenugreek/methi seeds,
- Kande tambli made with onion,
- Ankre tambli made with watercress/ankre,
- Beetroot tambli made with the beetroot
This beetroot leaves version is new but it worked out so well. It was spicy, had an intense cumin flavor. The ghee seasoning increased the taste many folds. On a hot summer day, this was a perfect dish to go with some rice and side of beetroot upkari.
Ingredients: 3 cups chopped beetroot leaves and stems 2 green chillies 1/2 cup coconut 1/2 cup thick plain yogurt/curds 1 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tea spn ghee + 1/2 tea spn oil 1 tea spn mustards seeds 4-5 curry leaves A pinch asafoetida/hing Salt
Method: Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they are fried, add slit green chillies followed by chopped leaves and stems. Fry for few mins till the leaves are wilted. Grind the leaves with salt and coconut to a smooth paste. Take the ground paste in a bowl, add the beaten yogurt/curds. Add enough water to make it a gravy consistancy. Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add asafoetida, curry leaves. Add the seasoning to the tambli. Serve with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time: 20mins
Sungta Ambat
Shrimp/Prawns are some of the very popular seafood available anywhere in the world. While growing up, we got very fresh ones, since we lived on coast. The fresh ones are so tasty. The big shrimp were a delicacy that we only got once in a while. Now we mostly get big ones, which are not comparable to the big shrimp we get here in supermarkets. So when we visit my parents, my parents get these fresh ones for us and one of the dishes we love the most is this Sungta ambat – a spicy coconut based gravy with shrimp. The gravy itself is very simple with just a few ingredients but it gets its taste from the shrimp.
Pictorial : Fried coriander seeds, red chillies, coconut for grinding.
Grind everything to a smooth paste.
Fry onions and then add shrimp, fry for few minutes.
Add the ground paste, green chillies, kokum, salt and cook till done.
Ingredients: 1 cup prawns/shrimps 1 cup fresh/frozen coconut 1/2 cup onion 5 red chillies 1-2 green chili 1 tea spn coriander seeds 4 pieces dried kokum or 1/4th tea spn tamarind extract Oil Salt
Method: Heat oil and fry coriander seeds. Grind with coconut and red chillies to a very smooth paste. Heat oil and fry chopped onions till they turn slightly brownish. Add prawns/shrimps and fry for some time(till the prawns become white in color, this enhances the taste of the curry). Add the ground masala , green chili(slitted) and kokum/tamarind(In the traditional recipe kokum is used, since I was not having that I used tamarind extract). Add salt and sufficient water. Cook till completely done. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30min
(Originally posted Mar 9 2006).
