“Dhoddak” usually has a very different way of cooking. The vegetable/fish is mixed with coconut masala. Then kept in between banana/turmeric leaves and charcoals are put on top of the vessel to make an arrangement like baking. (There might be other ways of making dhoddak, but I know only this one). Aayi makes two types of them, one is with vegetables and other with fish(mackerel) . For vegetable dhoddak we use assorted vegetables like ‘pala pansa kadgi/jeevi kadgi’(bread fruit) , gosaLe(ridge gourd) , bhende(okra), raw banana(plantain), bitter gourd etc. This dish gets an amazing aroma due to the leaves and charcoal.
Any dry dish with teppal(sichuan pepper) in it is also called huggi (thanks Ashwini ). I have heard both the names many times. May be different names are used in different dialects of Konkani. I adore this dish.
Ingredients: 2 cups assorted Vegetables(bread fruits, plantains, okra, ridge gourd, bitter gourd cut into big pieces) 1 cup fresh/frozen coconut 4-5 red chillies 2 kokum pieces 4-5Â Teppal(Sichuan pepper) Banana/turmeric leaves Salt
If kokum is not available, use tamarind. Since teppal is not available here in US(it is available in only few Chinese/Japanese stores), this dish can be prepared without it. But the leaves are necessary, if none of the leaves are available, do not attempt to make this dish.
Method: If using bitter gourd, apply salt to it and keep for 30mins. Squeeze off the water. Grind coconut and red chillies to a very smooth paste (with very little water). In a heavy bottomed pan or non stick pan, spread banana/turmeric leaves.
Add the masala, slightly crushed teppal, kokum pieces, salt and vegetables.
Mix gently with spoon.
Spread banana/turmeric leaves on top.
Tthe vessel is covered with a plate and some live charcoals are spread on it.
(If you don’t find charcoal, just close the lid and cook.)
Serve with rice.
PS: Some people get severe gastric problems by eating breadfruit. My dad and my husband got severe chest pain once due to this vegetable (they are eating it for ages, only once they got this problem). So, if you are not very familiar with this, be careful. This usually happens when you taste it after a very long time or for the first time. You can even make this dish without this vegetable.
If all the vegetables are not available, one or two of them can be ignored, but it tastes great when all of them are used. We frequently make this without breadfruit as it is not available all the time.
Vegetable sidedish(dhoddak/huggi)
This is a recipe from my friend Poornima . Long back I had tasted this in her lunch box. We always said she makes idlis out of anything. She prepared too many types of idlis.
Recently I bought a bunch of dill leaves -Shepi bhajji(Konkani) or Sabbasige soppu(Kannada). I had not used these leaves for a long time now. During my college days in Belgaum, my friend and I loved a curry made of these leaves, but after that somehow I never tried it. These leaves have a very peculiar smell which only few people like. So after the college I tried it now. When I saw the leaves, they reminded me of the very popular Konkani dish shepi idli (dill leaves idli). But when I came home, I wanted to have my friend’s version of the idlis, so I called her and got this recipe (I will post the Konkani version some other time).
This idli turned out to be great. It was a bit harder than normal idlis due to the daals, but the taste was amazing. May be something I would try frequently. This gets its spicy taste due to green chilies, has a very different aroma due to daals, dill and coriander leaves. This was the first time I used raw onions in idlis, so that was another plus point. This does not require any fermentation, so very quick and easy to make. Since daals are used and they take a bit more time to cook, these are cooked in cooker with the weight (2 whistles in cooker).
Ingredients: Chana daal 1/2 cup Moong daal(yellow) 1/2 cup Onion(cut into small pieces) 3/4 cup Green chilies 4-5 Ginger 2″ piece Dill leaves(sabbasige soppu/shepi bhajji) 1/2 cup Coriander leaves 2-3 strands Coconut(fresh or frozen) 3/4 cup Salt
Increase or decrease the amount of dill leaves according to taste.
Method: Soak daals in water for 3-4hrs (preferably overnight). Grind them along with green chilies, ginger, 1/4 cup onion, 1/4 cup coconut into a coarse paste without adding water. Mix remaining onion, coconut and the leaves, add salt and mix well. Keep this mixture in idli molds and cook in cooker(for two whistles). This can also be steamed like normal idlis but takes longer time due to the two daals. Serve with chutney. This can be eaten without any chutney since it already has all the spices and onions.
Serves : 2-3 Preparation time : 25mins
