Valasangi or Alsande or yard long beans are one of the very popular beans used by Konkanis. I have very fond memories of my grand father growing these in our garden. We liked to eat them raw when they were still very tender. Those that my brother and I left, would be made into a simple upkari . I even remember we would put some fully grown beans in fire and then ate the charred seeds. But this Valasangi sukke is completely new to me.
When we moved to US few years ago, we frequently saw these beans in Indian stores here. I hesitated to buy them because they came in a huge bunch (like most of the stuff in Indian stores!!). There were times I got these and could use only half and other half went bad before I could get to them. I have become wiser in recent years, I chop them and put in freezer these days. Recently, I asked on AR Facebook page for recipes that I could try with these. Like always, you all had so many great suggestions. Did I say, this is the part I love the most above blogging? I have become much better cook after I started this blog. Everyday I learn something new from you all. Thank you so much once again. I have been trying different suggestions from these. One such recipe was to make a sukke from these beans. I had to try it because sukke (literally means ‘dry’) is one of my all time favorite dishes – like navalkola(kohlrabi) sukke or keerla(bamboo shoots) sukke or karathe(bittergourd) sukke etc. There are many slight variations to sukke ingredients, but I followed the one which aayi uses in most of her sukkes.
We absolutely loved it. I am sure this will be a regular here.
Ingredients: 2 cups chopped long beans (Valasangi/Alsande) 1/2 cup onion 1/2 cup fresh/frozen coconut 2-3 red chillies 1/2 tea spn tamarind extract 1 tea spn coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1 tea spn jaggery Oil Salt
Method: Cook the beans in a little water. I cook them in pressure cooker. Keep aside. Heat a little oil and fry coriander seeds, urad dal, red chillies. Grind with coconut. Heat little oil and fry onion. Add beans, ground paste, tamarind, jaggery and salt. Cook for few minutes till the mixture is thick. Serve hot as a sidedish with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 20 mins
I am camera-less for next couple of weeks. I was way too excited to post something last time and even after many reminders from V, I was not very careful with handling the SD card. It got broken and stuck in the SD card slot. Looks like it was pretty bad and we had to take it to repair shop to get it fixed. Not sure how I am managing to mess up things these days!. First I lost my phone and now this. So that means, I cannot click any new pictures for few weeks. I also can’t access any of the pictures I clicked in last few weeks – Grrr I should have transferred them to laptop!!. Luckily I have few pictures I had saved earlier which needs to be posted and I am very lucky to have amazing parents who have a huge hand in keeping this space alive and going. Â They promised they will post something whenever they can. Anyway, sorry for that rant, now that it is off my chest, I feel good :).
Coming to this recipe, I am making a conscious effort to make atleast one chicken dish a week. Somehow I love to try new recipe every time, than sticking to one tried and tested recipe. I usually end up at Sig’s blog for chicken dishes or try something completely new by adding different ingredients. Some of my experiments in last few weeks were big hits with my family and friends. Tomato chicken with whole spices is one such recipe. Ingredients: 1 lb chicken 1/2 cup onion 1 and 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 3 large ones) 1 tea spn chopped garlic 1/2 tea spn pepper powder 2 cloves 2 cardamoms 1 bay leaf 2″ stick cinnamon 1 tea spn slightly crushed coriander seeds 1/2 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tea spn chilli powder 4-5 leaves of mint Oil Salt
Method: Cut chicken into small pieces and add salt and pepper to it. Heat little oil, add chopped garlic. Add the chicken pieces and let them cook till they are 3/4th done. Take out the chicken on a clean plate. In the same pan, heat oil and add all the whole spices, onion and fry for few minutes. Add crushed coriander seeds, tomatoes, little salt and let them cook for few minutes. Now add the chicken pieces and cook till they are completely cooked. Sprinkle mint and cook for a min. Serve hot with chapatis.
