This daal is an adaptation from 2-3 recipes. I always loved the North Indian type ‘daal palak’ and Andhra ‘pappu’. I learnt the Andhra version from my friend Lakshmi. I experimented a lot on the authentic dish. I absolutely loved all the versions. I usually make this a bit thick compared to Konkani daal , but a bit watery compared to the Andhra version. I do not like it too much sour, as sourness overcomes the taste of this dish.
Spinach or fenugreek leaves can be used for this. I tried this daal with toor daal, masoor daal, moong daal and sometimes mixture of all the three daals. Even our friend who loves only non-veg dishes is always ready to eat this dish :).
Ingredients: Daal(toor/masoor/moong or a mixture of all of them) 1 cup Onion 1/2 cup Fenugreek(methi) leaves or Spinach(palak) 1 cup (1-2 frozen blocks) Tamarind extract 1/2 tea spn Garlic cloves 2-3 Ghee 1 tea spn Green chilies 2-3 Rasam powder 1 tea spn Turmeric a pinch Salt
Garlic cloves and rasam powder are optional. But they make the biggest difference in taste. I love this daal with both of them included. If using normal tamarind instead of ready made extract, soak tamarind in warm water for sometime and extract the thick juice (around 1tbl spn). Usually the ready made extract is more sour, so be careful while using it.
Method: Cook daal and greens with a pinch of turmeric. Mash them with a spoon. Heat ghee and add chopped garlic, green chilies and onion. When onions turn slightly brownish, add daal, tamarind, 1-2 cups water, salt and cook for 6-7mins. Add rasam powder and cook again for 3-4mins. Do not cook for a long time after adding the rasam powder, the aroma of the powder goes off by cooking longer. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins
‘ Kadgi ‘ means raw jack fruit. ‘ Chakko ‘ or ‘ sushal ‘ is a kind of side dish with coconut. This dish is one of the most popular dishes among Konkanis. I had tasted it when I was a kid, but had completely forgotten about it. This dish is also called as “Kadgi sukke” (Sukke meaning a dry dish).
Gowri sent me this recipe many days ago. For few days I could not find raw jack fruit here. I am not very comfortable with tinned jack fruit, because I feel all the tinned products have a considerable taste difference compared to the fresh ones(I may be wrong in this, but I never prefer any tinned products). Then recently I saw the frozen raw jack fruit pack in Indian store. I used this frozen jack fruit for this dish.
As I was not remembering about this, I searched the recipe books and also asked my mom about the recipe that she had followed. All the confusion was due to one of the ingredients. Some people used urad dal in this dish and some used methi seeds . (According to my Aayi, Gowri and books, it is urad dal and according to Aruna and few more links that I got, it is methi seeds ).
This dish turned out amazing. Thanks Gowri for reminding me about it. In the following method, jack fruit can be replaced by Bamboo shoots ( Keerlu ) to get “ Keerla chakko “.
Ingredients: 1 cup green(raw) jackfruit 3/4 cup coconut(fresh or frozen) 4-5 red chilies 1 tea spn coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 3/4 tea spn or methi (fenugreek) seeds 1/4 tea spn tamarind extract 1 tea spn mustard seeds 5-6 curry leaves Oil 1/2 tea spn jaggery(optional) Salt
Many people do not include jaggery in this dish.
Method: Heat a little oil and fry coriander seeds and urad daal (or methi seeds). Grind them with coconut, jaggery(if using), red chilies and tamarind to a coarse paste (do not mix too much water). Cut the jackfruit into bite size pieces. Beat them lightly with a stone or rolling pin.(If using the tinned jack fruit, open tin and squeeze all water from jack fruit. Soak in water for sometime and discard the water to get rid of saltiness. Smash the jack fruit with hand or shred it). Heat 1 tbl spn of oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves. Add jack fruit and fry for a minute. Put in the ground masala, sprinkle a little water. Cook on a low flame for around 20mins mixing in between. Add salt (be careful if using the tinned jack fruit. Since it already has salt, add a little only if required). Mix well.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 30mins
