If I claim I have a Konkani food blog, anybody will ask the question “have you blogged about our great Batate Song ??”. If my answer is “no”, then I definitely can’t claim of having a Konkani food blog. All I meant to say is, batate song (do not confuse this song with English ‘Song’) is a very very famous dish and every Konkani person is a great fan of it.
I still remember, when I was a kid, we visited my maternal grandmother’s house in Sirsi(A place near the Sahyadri mountain range, very famous for its Marikamba temple ) during every summer vacations. My grandmother was a great cook. I still wonder where our older generations learnt so many great recipes. She always prepared this for us. This dish tastes great when made real spicy. It is usually beautiful red in color as if somebody has prepared it only using chillies.
This dish is prepared more than one ways, this version is what aayi follows. Here is the version without coconut.
Ingredients: 2 cups boiled and chopped potatoes 1/2 cup chopped onion 3/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut 1/2 tea spns tamarind extract or 2-3 pieces of tamarind 7-8 red chillies (Add as much as your taste buds can tolerate) Oil 1 tea spn coriander seeds Salt
Method: Cook potatoes, peel them and cut into big pieces. Chop onions into medium size pieces.
Fry coconut(without oil) till it turns just reddish. Grind with coriander seeds, red chillies and tamarind to a very smooth paste. Heat oil and fry onions till they turn translucent. Add potatoes, ground masala and salt. If required, add a bit of water and let it cook till the masala is completely cooked and gravy is thick. Serve hot with rice or alayle pita rotti .
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 25min
Let me first translate the Konkani name into English. ‘Bhindi’ is called as ‘bhende’ in Konkani. ‘Olli mirssangi’ is ‘green chillies’ and ‘ambat’ is ‘gravy’ in konkani. This name is to distinguish between the gravies we make with red chillies and this one.Some people use Potato and Tomato instead of bhindi(okra) for this dish. Aayi usually uses bhindi for this gravy.
Most of the vegetables used in North Kanara food are grown in their own garden. The bhindi which we get in North Kanara is of light parrot green color and big in size compared to the dark green bhindi we usually get in Bangalore and other places. There is a slight differentin taste also. But still I use any kind of bhindi available with me for this dish.
Ingredients: Bhindi(Okra) cut into round pieces 1 cup Coconut 1 cup Mustard seeds 1 tea spn Curry leaves 1 strand Green chillies 4 Asafoetida(hingu) a pinch Tamarind extract 1/2 tea spn Ghee 1 tea spn Salt
Method: Grind together coconut, tamarind and green chillies to a smooth paste. Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add asafoetida and curry leaves. Add bhindi and salt. Fry for 4-5 mins. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook.When bhindi is almost cooked, add the ground masala. Cook for until the masala and bhindi are completely done. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3 Preparation time : 20min
