Sometime around 5 years back, I was working for a software company in Bangalore. Our project was a nightmare to everyone involved. We were working day and night 7 days a week. Either we used to go home at odd hours like 12 in the night or we worked throughout night. There was only one dorm in our office which was occupied by guys. So if at all any girls worked throughout night, they had to actually work instead of trying to get a nap (like many guys did – they used to sleep at 1 or 2AM).
I was working with Suma, who was my senior and very nice girl. We worked till next day morning 8AM and we were almost going insane. So, she suggested that we go to her home, take a nap and come back to office. Since my home was 25kms from office and going home and coming back from there was almost impossible due to heavy traffic, I decided to go with her. We took a nice nap and then her mom served us an amazing lunch. I still remember the taste of the lunch. She had prepared this Bendekayi (okra) huLi (a sour dish) which was just out of the world. I even got the recipe from her, but misplaced it somewhere.
Every time I saw okra, I would remember this dish. Finally I got the recipe in my collection from Kannada magazines. It came out so delicious. It might not be same recipe, but this sure is a winner :).
Ingredients: 1 cup toor dal 1 cup chopped okra 2 tea spns dry coconut or dessicated coconut 1 tea spn chana dal 1 tea spn urad dal 1 tea spn rice(raw) 4-5 red chilies 1 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tea spn coriander seeds 4 peppers 1″ cinnamon A pinch asafoetida Oil 1/3 tea spn tamarind extract or 2-3 pieces tamarind 1 tea spn jaggery A pinch turmeric Salt
Method: Add a pinch of turmeric to the toor dal and cook till it is soft. Heat little oil and fry chana dal , urad dal , rice, red chilies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, pepper, cinnamon, asafoetida and coconut till a nice aroma comes out. Grind it to a smooth paste with tamarind and jaggery. Heat oil and fry okra till the pieces become reddish and they are fried very well. Add cooked dal , paste and salt. Cook for 5-6mins. Serve hot.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 25mins
Goa is known as a tourist spot for most of the people. But for Konkanis, it is more than just that because of the temples. Most of the Kuldevata (family deity) temples are in Goa. So most of us go to Goa at least once a year to visit these temples. Any special occasions are preceded by a trip to Kuldevata temple. From my parent’s side, we are devotees of Shree Lakshmi Narayana Mahamaya, Ankola (a place in Karnataka), we hardly went to Goa while I was growing up. The few times we had been there, it was to attend some special occasions or for touring. But from my husband’s side, the deities are Ananth Vithal – Shantadurga-Vijaydurga, Ponda & Mardol, Goa, so I think I will be feeling more attached to Goa hereafter.
All that information leads to the following experience. We go to Kuldevata temple soon after getting married (may be 2nd or 3rd day after wedding). It is called “ Varbhetni ” – its a ritual where the groom takes his new bride to temple. So on the 2nd day of our wedding we went to Goa. The second attraction for us after the temples is the canteen food. People give anything to eat this food. My hubby took me to this temple’s canteen, he kept on telling me about the delicious food available there. He explained me how he used to love eating there when he was a kid etc etc. We ordered something and I found that most of the things available there had garam masala in it. I was more and more surprised as I ate in few other canteens of different temples and restaurants. It was almost same everywhere. I even found a pav bhaji with garam masala . All those dishes were very delicious, but I still wonder why they have such a great influence of garam masala in everything. I might be completely wrong in generalizing things here, but hubby said that is what he had also observed, there is a possibility that most of the dishes that we chose happen to have garam masala . May be some of you can shed some light on this.
Most of my regular readers know about my friend Aruna . I have posted many of her recipes here. She has always helped me when I find myself at the dead end while searching some. Few days ago, when the list of reader requests was out of my control, I requested her to help me out. She sent me many recipes. I have already posted most of them. This is one such recipe that Aruna had sent me. Even though I tried it immediately, it took me a long time to post it here. It was very delicious. Hubby said he had tasted this on one of his trips. Thanks a lot Aruna.
Aruna said, “I spoke to my MIL abt it. She says the gravy is standard for all pulses. It is basically eaten with Pao (bread) . Since it is liquid kind it is called Patal bhaji or Tonak “. I didn’t have Pao , so I served this with chapathi .
See Mahek’s masoor tonak .
Ingredients: 1 cup pulses (I used dried yellow peas/vatana) 1/2 cup onion 3/4 cup coconut (preferably dry coconut) 1 tea spn garam masala 1/2 tea spn chili powder 1/4 tea spn tamarind extract or 1-2 pieces tamarind Oil Salt
Method: Soak pulses in water (if you are using yellow/green peas, soak it overnight). Pressure cook till they are soft. Heat little oil and fry 1/4 cup onion. When they turn brownish, add coconut and fry till coconut turn brownish. Grind it with tamarind. Heat a little oil and fry onions. Add chili powder, garam masala , paste, cooked pulses and salt. Cook for 7-8mins. Make sure the bhaji should be watery( pattal ). Serve with Pao or chapathi .
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins
