Konkani food is usually based around coconut. We make a variety of dishes with it. Though the masala which we use is almost same, there is a remarkable difference in taste from one dish to the other. I usually prepare two-three stapled side dishes like Mooga randayi (also called as Mooga ambat), dudde randayi and few others which I would be posting in coming days. I had forgotten about the others, but thanks to “aayisrecipes”, I am learning most of them now.
One such delicious recipe is, ‘Chana ghashi’. Madhura sent me this recipe as well as the picture. I have tasted it many times when I was a kid and it has amazing taste. I am surprised at the way our older generations used almost all the vegetables and the whole grains in their cooking. Thanks Madhura for the recipe and the picture :D.
Ingredients: Kala Chana(small black chickpea) 1 Cup Grated coconut 1/2 Cup Curry leaves 1 strand Hing(Asafoetida) a pinch Mustard seeds 1 tea spn Red chillies 6-7 Tamarind Raw banana(plantain) 1 ( cut into square pieces) Oil 1 tea spn Salt
Method: Soak kala chana overnight. Next day pressure cook it (4 wistles). Grind together coconut, tamarind and red chillies. Cook the raw banana with a little salt seperately in a different vessel, as the raw banana cooks fast. Now in a vessel pour the ground masala, add the boiled chana , banana. Add salt and give it a boil for 5 to 7 mins, remove from heat. Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they start popping, add curry leaves and asafoetida and season the curry. Serve as a side dish with rice.
Serves : 3 Preparation time : 30min (Including the cooking time)
I have been trying different dishes with prawns. Previously I have posted two of my mothers dishes, sungta upkari and sungta khoLu (in the recipe, replace bangda with prawn). Both taste heavenly. (Click on the ‘prawns/shrimps’ in the category and you can see a whole lot of prawns recipes). Recently, I got this recipe from Gowri . I have heard about this recipe a lot, but had never tried it. When I got this again from Gowri, I felt it is time to try it and it tasted fantastic. In her mail, she says ” I am sending one of my favorite recipe called sungta panna upkari. If you use byadgi chilly it taste much better as it give rich red color. Very simple but very tasty and all my friends likes it. You can make this by mixing chilly powder and tamarind pulp. But it tastes better if you grind it together”. Thanks Gowri for the recipe.
Small shrimps are used in the authentic recipe. Since I could not find the small shrimps here, I used the big ones easily available in all grocery stores.
Ingredients: Prawns 1/2 lb Onion ( finely chopped) 1/2 cup Garlic cloves(finely chopped) 1 big Red chilies (hotter the better) 6-7 Tamarind Small lemon size Oil Salt
Method: Fry onions in oil till they become almost brown then add garlic fry for another one minute. Make paste of tamarind and red chillies and add this to onion mixture. Add very little water(but gravy should be thick). Now add shrimp and salt and boil till the shrimps are cooked. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 10mins
