After the persistence of the previous ‘Watermelon’ theme for so many months, it was time for a change. Aayi’s Recipes has a new look and feel now. The redesign is an effort to improve neatness and reduce clutter. At the same time improve usability.
Still there is lots to do and fix a few missing elements from the earlier theme. That will be done in a phased manner.
Upkari is a Konkani stir fry. We make stir fry of many vegetables as well as beans. This is an ideal example of the mixture of both. Somehow the black chickpea – plantain combination is very popular among Konkanis. Another combination of these two is chana ghashi . We also make similar stir fry with only chickpeas or only plantains.
This recipe was sent to me by Gowri . I have tasted this dish many times but I had forgotten completely about it. When Gowri sent the recipe, I tried it again and it brought back many memories.
Ingredients: 2 cups black chickpeas( kala chana ) 1 raw plantain( kele ) 1 tbl spn grated coconut(fresh or frozen) 3-4 green chilies 1-2 red chilies A pinch of asafoetida 5-6 curry leaves 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1 tea spn oil Salt
Method: Soak kala chana overnight. Pressure cook them for 2-3 whistles(or till they are cooked completely). Peel plantain and cut them into bite size pieces. Keep the pieces in water (to stop blackening of plantain). Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add curry leaves, asafoetida, red and green chilies. Fry for sometime and add banana pieces(discard the water used to soak plantains). Sprinkle some water if required. When they are almost cooked, add cooked chana and salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Add coconut and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30mins
