‘Tamdi bhajji’ in Konkani means ‘Red edible plant’. This is referred to as ‘tamdi bhajji’ or ‘moDil bhajji’ (means the ‘edible plant cut into pieces’, I donno how this name has come). This is very famous at our native, people used to grow it at home, but now it is widely available in markets also. This is widely used in Kerala cusine (LG has given a lot of good information about this bhajji) and called as ‘cheera’.
Since I have no idea whether it is a type of spinach or amaranth, I thought of going with the name specified here , here (this is the variety usually available in Bangalore) and here (this is the one loved by all at our native). (According to LG’s post specified above, this is a type of spinach). I have seen this many times in Chinese stores, when I googled, I got to know, this is also called as ‘Chinese spinach’.
Among all other dishes with this bhajji, my favourite is this side dish. While cooking this bhajji, do not cover the lid. If it is covered, the red color goes off.
Red Amaranth sidedish (Tamdi bhajji randayi)
Ingredients
- 1 and half cups Tamdi bhajji
- 1/2 cup Black eyed beans alsande
- 3/4 cup Coconut
- 3-4 Teppal/Tirphal
- 1/2 tea spn Tamarind or 2-3 pieces Kokum
- 4-5 Red chillies
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook black eyed beans in pressure cooker till they become soft(around 1-2 whistles), but they should not be mashed.
- Cook bhajji in around 2 cups of water (do not close the lid while cooking).
- Grind coconut with red chillies and tamarind(if using) to a very smooth paste.
- Add the masala and cooked beans to bhajji, add slightly crushed teppal and kokum pieces(use any one, kokum or tamarind).
- Add salt and cook till masala becomes slightly thick.
- Serve as a side dish with rice/chapathi.
Ingredients:
Traditional recipe calls for teppal, but this dish tastes good even if teppal is not used.
Method:
Serves : 4 Preparation time : 20mins
Red Amaranth sidedish (Tamdi bhajji randayi)
Ingredients
- 1 and half cups Tamdi bhajji
- 1/2 cup Black eyed beans alsande
- 3/4 cup Coconut
- 3-4 Teppal/Tirphal
- 1/2 tea spn Tamarind or 2-3 pieces Kokum
- 4-5 Red chillies
- Salt
Instructions
- Cook black eyed beans in pressure cooker till they become soft(around 1-2 whistles), but they should not be mashed.
- Cook bhajji in around 2 cups of water (do not close the lid while cooking).
- Grind coconut with red chillies and tamarind(if using) to a very smooth paste.
- Add the masala and cooked beans to bhajji, add slightly crushed teppal and kokum pieces(use any one, kokum or tamarind).
- Add salt and cook till masala becomes slightly thick.
- Serve as a side dish with rice/chapathi.
I have heard a lot about ‘biscuit rotti’ in last few days. I didn’t know such a dish exists in Konkani cuisine before this comment from Preeti. I found a few recipes when I googled, but then she forwarded me this link . Somehow I could not make it for a long time, but when I prepared this last week, I absolutely loved this dish. I had prepared this for an evening snack, but I guess this can even be prepared for breakfast.
Ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida 2 cups Wheat rava (sooji) 1 cup Grated coconut 2 tbl spns Chilli powder 1 tea spn Mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn Asafoetida(hingu) a pinch Curry leaves 1 strand Oil Salt
Method:
Make dough of flour and maida with warm water and 1 tea spn warm oil. Kneed it to make a very smooth dough (like chapathi dough). Heat 1 tea spn oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Add sooji and fry (like in upma ) till sooji turns slightly brownish. Add coconut, salt, chilli powder and around 1/2 cup water. Cook till sooji absorbs all water. (I was not having curry leaves when I prepared this, so there are no leaves in the picture below).
Make a small ball of dough and spread a bit using the palm. Keep a sooji mixture ball on it and cover the ends firmly.
With a rolling pin, roll it into small puris.
Heat oil and deep fry the puris. Serve hot with ketchup.
Serves : 2
Preparation time : 20mins
