One of the most requested recipes on this blog is this Marathi special, very fragrant dry masala . I was waiting for a trip to India to get this recipe from my pachi (aayi’s sister) who is my very important connection to anything Marathi :).
I still remember those days in Belgaum. I was in college hostel while doing my bachelors. The food in the canteen was so bad that after a while we could not take it any more. My roommate and I had always eaten homemade Konkani food and this hostel food was a big shock to us. She knew little bit of cooking which was mainly Konkani – with ground coconut masalas . We were not allowed to go and meet our relatives every week (otherwise I would have probably visited pachi every weekend). So we were in for a big trouble.
One day, I went to pachi’s house and asked her for some simple recipes that I could cook in the hostel on a typical small one burner electric stove and without the help of any other electrical appliances like mixer, blender. Keeping in mind I didn’t even know to make simple rice, she gave me few suggestions. She gave me some kala masala and gave some simple ideas of using this masala . Also some other masalas which I have forgotten now. But I still remember the heavenly aroma of this kala masala .
So this time, when we had been to India, I asked pachi for the recipe. She said she buys the ready made powder and also, every one has their own versions which have different aromas. She promised to ask around in her family and give me the recipe for the one she likes the most.
After few days, she suggested a recipe from the famous book Ruchira by Kamalabayi Ogle . When I tried this, I made very few modifications to it and reduced all the ingredients proportionately to make this powder in a quantity that we can finish when it is still fresh.
Verdict – I clearly remember this fragrance. A tea spn of this masala in any dish, brightens the whole dish. I have been using this a lot these days. I am living my college days again. One of the first dishes I tried with this is, my favorite Kale vatanechi amti .
Remember – If you are making any dry masala , make it in small quantity and finish as soon as possible (like in 1-2 months). As time passes, the fragrance goes away bit by bit.
Fry in oil: 1 cup coriander seeds 1/8 cup cumin seeds 3/4 tea spn shah jeera 1/2 tea spn cloves 1 fingerlong cinnamon 2 gms asafoetida 1/8 cup dagad phool 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/4 tea spn fenugreek seeds
Dry roast: 1/8 cup sesame seeds 1/4 cup dessicated coconut
Other ingredients: 1/4 tea spn turmeric powder 1/4 cup chilli powder Oil Salt ( I did not add this )
Method: Heat very little oil and fry all the ingredients under ‘fry in oil’. Take care not to burn anything. You can fry them one by one. Take them out. Dry roast the ingredients under ‘dry roast’. Grind all of them together to a smooth powder. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Store in air tight container. (I divided it into two equal parts. One I kept in freezer. It will be used after the first batch gets over).
PS: For those who have never seen dagad phool , here is a picture. It is not same as star anise. This looks like dried flowers or lichens that are often seen on trees. It has a very strong smell. I think the main characteristic aroma of kala masala comes from this ingredient. Aayi uses this in her chicken curry, so for me, this spice has typical chicken curry smell :).
I saw Kale vatane or black peas first time in Belgaum. I have not seen these in Konkani cooking. My pachi uses kale vatane a lot in her cooking. I just love these. I still remember the taste of this amti (gravy). I think she also used fresh kale vatane (not very sure though) in her cooking. I make my own version of this, but this is the way she makes it.
Many times on this blog, my readers think that since I live in Kansas, I may not be finding many Indian ingredients. But I have noticed that, we have one of the best Indian grocery stores in US. We have about 7-8 Indian stores not all of them are good, so during those initial days in Kansas, I was pretty much frustrated by these stores. Then we heard about this very famous store Ambica. Ohh..it is like living in India. So far, whenever I want anything, I find it there. After we found this store, we stopped going to any others. Every time I enter the store, the uncle gives me a big smile and says hello. V is pretty much sure that the uncle gets extremely happy looking at me as he knows I am going to buy many things :). So finally he said he won’t be taking me anymore to the store.
Anyway, on one of those days when I was roaming around the store (these days V sits in a corner with hands on his head!!), I found a pack of these vatane . As usual, it was a huge pack, I grabbed it. I made my own version of amti first. Then it was Manisha’s chitkya ani kale vatanyachi bhaji . This time I got pachi ‘s recipe. Do I still need to say I love this gravy?
Ingredients: 1/2 cup kale vatane 1/4 cup dried coconut 1/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut 1 tea spn coriander seeds 1/2 cup chopped onion A pinch turmeric 1/2 tea spn goda masala 1 tea spn chilli powder 3-4 strands coriander leaves(optional) Oil Salt
Method: Soak kale vatane overnight and pressure cook. Heat oil and add coriander seeds. Add 1/4 cup onion and fry till they turn brownish. Now add dry and fresh coconut, fry for few minutes. Add red chilli powder, turmeric, goda masala . Grind to a smooth paste. Heat a little oil and fry remaining onion. When they turn brownish, add cooked vatane , ground masala , salt and cook. Garnish with coriander leaves(optional). Serve hot.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 25mins
PS: When I took above picture, I was not having goda masala , so I used curry powder.
