In the next few days, I will post some traditional side-dishes prepared by my mother. I absolutely love these sides. Let me start with my favourite dish.
This is prepared with raw papayas grown at home. The second main ingredient is ‘vali bhajji’, which is also called as Indian Spinach, Malabar Spinach or Vietnamese Spinach . These are available in all american grocery stores (it is called as ‘spinach’, it is a bit different than ‘palak’). This is easily available in Mangalore stores in India (called as ‘basale soppu’ in Kannada and ‘vaali’ in Marathi). If this green vegetable is not available, use normal palak for this dish, but this dish tastes great with ‘vali’ as a few tender stems are also used for this dish and the stems enhance the taste.
When we were kids, mom used to serve mini-meals to us when we came back from school at 11.30 (our school timings were 8-11 and 2-5). Usually a kind of rice item called as ‘Pej’(Konkani) or ‘Ganji’(Kannada) or Conjee (English) was searved for this meal. This dish has a ‘bland’ taste to it, because it is made of only boiled rice and lot of water(it is a watery dish). Some people serve salt, ghee and milk with ‘ pej ‘. I absolutely loved any side dish served with this ‘pej’. One such side dish was ‘vali bhajji – pappayi randayi’. Still I make this combo, but as a lunch or dinner, because there is no time for any mini-meals now :).
Other Vali dishes I have posted so far are ‘ vali bhajji-sungta ambat ‘ and ‘ vali bhajji ambat ‘.
Ingredients: Vali bhajji 2 cups Raw papaya (cut into big pieces) 1 and 1/2 cups Coconut 1/2 cup Toor daal 1/2 cup Coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn Red chillies 4-5 Tamarind 1/2 tea spn Turmeric a pinch Jaggery 1 and half tea spns Oil 1 tea spn Garlic cloves 2-3 (If Indian garlic is used, increase this amount to 5-6) Salt
Note : this dish is a bit sweetish.
Method: Cook daal with a pinch of turmeric till soft. Cook vali and papaya (for 1-2 wistles if cooker is used. Papaya should not become paste). Heat oil and fry coriander seeds. (if the red chillies have become soft, fry them also. Because this crispy chillies can be ground faster). Grind fried coriander, chillies, tamarind and coconut to a smooth paste. Add ground masala, cooked vali-papaya to daal. Add salt. Cook for around 10mins. Remove from flame. Heat 1/2 tea spn oil and add garlic. Fry till they turn to brown. Add this to the dish and immediately close the lid to retain the smell. Serve hot with ‘pej’ or normal rice.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20mins
PS: Garlic skin should be completely removed before frying them, better yet, cut them into two. If they are fried with skins, they pop up and cause serious burns. Many people don’t add Toor daal to this dish, we add it for the thickness.
Black eyed beans or alsande is my all time favourite. Any dish with this gets a distinguishing taste. Here are few interesting traditional uses of black eyed peas.
Ingredients: Coconut 3/4 cup Black eyed peas(alsande) 1/2 cup Yam(surnu)/green banana (Plantain)/potato (cut into bite size pieces) 1/2 cup Red chillies 4-5 Oil 1 tea spn Coriander seeds 1 tea spn Asafoetida a pinch Mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn Curry leaves 5-6 Tamarind 1/2 tea spn Salt
Black eyed beans increase in volume after soaking. So use just 1/2 cup. If already soaked one or canned ones are used, increase the amount to 1 cup.
Method: Soak Black eyed beans overnight. Cook beans and potatoes(or taro root or banana) in pressure cooker/microwave till done. Heat oil and fry coriander seeds. Grind with coconut, red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste. Add the paste to cooked beans-potatoes, add salt, 1/2 cup water and cook for 5-10mins. (This dish is a bit watery. Infact all ‘randayi’ are watery side dishes). Heat oil and fry mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves, asafoetida and one red chilli(cut into two). Add this tadka(phanna) to the beans. Mix well. Serve hot as a side dish with rice/chapathi.
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 30min
