Kadgi sukke (Green jackfruit in coconut masala)

INGREDIENTS:
1 1 small green raw jackfruit
2 1 cup shrdded coconut
3 4-5 dry red chillies (roasted in little oil)
4 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
6 1 small lemon-sized tamarind
7 1 teaspoon black gram dal
8 1 sprig of curry leaves
9 A pinch of asafoetida
10 Salt to taste

METHOD:
Firstly peel the raw jackfruit and wash it well. Shred the jackfruit like shown in the picture. Place it in water and keep aside. Next dry roast the dry red chillies and half teaspoon of mustard in very little oil and grind it along with tamarind to make a fine paste. Now add the shredded coconut and grind until it mixes well with the masala. The coconut shredding should not become very fine. Add the ground masala to the shredded jackfruit. Add salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Heat oil in a deep kadai preferably coconut oil. Once the oil gets hot, add mustard seeds, black gram dal, asafoetida, and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start crackling, add the jackfruit masala mixture and enough water so that the jackfruit cooks and becomes soft. Cook on a low flame until the water evaporates.

This is a side dish which can be had along with rice and dalithoi.

PANNA PATHRODO

Pathrodo is a Konkani delicacy which is prepared on most festival days. It is prepared with colocasia leaves and is very tasty and mouth watering. My friend, Aruna in London used to make this panna pathrodo and we used to relish it a lot. I want to share this recipe with you. Hope you will try this one.

Ingredients:

1 One cup whole moong

2 One cup of shredded coconut

3 10-15 dry red chillies (roasted in little oil)

4 One lemon-sized tamarind

5 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

6 Salt to taste

7 One teaspoon mustard seeds

8 One-half teaspoon methi seeds

9 One teaspoon urad dal

10 Two sprig curry leaves

11 Oil (preferably coconut oil) for seasoning


METHOD: Soak the whole moong overnight. Grind the roasted red chillies, tamarind, coconut, hing, and salt to a fine paste. Now add the whole moong to this paste and grind to make the dough for the pathrodo. Rinse and devein the colocasia leaves. Firstly, spread a big leaf on the board by placing it facing downward, i.e. the right side of the leaf should be on the board. Now apply the paste to the leaf. Next you keep the smaller leaves on the first one and form a layer by applying the paste until it is thick enough. Now you roll the sides and fold it to form a log, which is called lollo in Konkani.

In a thich-bottomed kadai heat oil. Once it is hot add the mustard seeds. When it starts to crackle add the methi seeds, urad dal, hing, and the curry leaves. Place the prepared pathrodo in the seasoning and cook on a low flame until it is cooked. It may take 30 to 40 minutes depending on the thickness of the pathrodo.

Adgai

Last night I had been to a Satya Narayan Pooja at Wadala Matt. There they served us this dish. I am very fond of raw jackfruit and I am sure you will also like this simple pickle made from raw mango and jackfruit.

Ingredients:

500 gm green jackfruit

1 big raw mango

4 tablespoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon methi seeds

1 teaspoon asafetida powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

3 tablespoon red chilli powder

3 tablespoon salt

Method:

Firstly cut the raw jackfruit into small pieces and wash them. Cook the jackfruit pieces in a pressure cooker until they are tender. Dry roast the rest of the ingredients and powder them in a mixer or blender.

Secondly, make salt water for the pickle by boiling salt in sufficient amount of water. Once the water boils switch off the gas and let it cool. Mix the ground powder in the salt water and add it to the jackfruit pieces. Add the raw mango pieces and mix well and store in an airtight bottle. This pickle will last for a week or so. This is a good side dish for rice and dali thove.

Karathe kismur or bitter gourd chutney

This is one of my favorite dishes. This spicy chutney goes well with boiled rice pez. This also can be prepared with dried fish or dried shrimps. When you are making fish kismur, add garlic to the following ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 bitter gourd, finely cut into cubes
1 big onion, finely chopped
1 cup grated coconut
5-6 dry red chillies (Indeed, it is going to be hot)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 lemon-sized tamarind ball
Salt to taste.

Method:

Fry the bitter gourd pieces in a little oil until it turns dark brown in color. Grind the coconut, dry red chillies, coriander seeds, tamarind, and salt. Do not add water. Mix the fried bitter gourd pieces and finely chopped onions to the chutney and serve it with boiled rice pez. Pez is made by cooking red colored boiled rice in a big vessel with plenty of water. The boiled rice should be cooked on a slow heat until it becomes soft. It is served hot with salt and ghee.

Cabbage sannapolo

This is a spicy side dish prepared with shredded cabbage. This Konkani dish goes very well with rice and saar upkari or dali thove. I have prepared this today and I think I should share this simple recipe with you. This sanna polo can also be prepared only with onions.

Ingredients:

2 cups of shredded cabbage

2 onions finely chopped

1 cup grated coconut

1 cup rice soaked in water

One half-cup tuvar dal soaked in water

A small piece of tamarind

6-7 red chillies

Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak the rice and tuvar dal for half an hour. Chop the onions and cabbage into very small pieces and keep it aside. Grind together red chillies, tamarind, and half of the grated coconut to form a thick masala. To this masala add the rice and tuvar dal and grind to form a coarse batter. To this mixture, add the onions, cabbage, rest of the grated coconut and salt to taste and mix well.

Now heat a nonstick tava and pour the mixture with a ladle and make small dosas. Fry it well on both sides by adding little oil. Serve this hot spicy cabbage sanna polo with rice and dali thove. This is somewhat similar to cabbage sannakotto, which I have written earlier.

Tendle-bibbo upkari

This is a simple stir-fry dish mostly served in Konkani weddings and other functions. Tendle (pronounced tend lae) is the Indian gherkin easily available in South India. Bibbo is the fresh cashew nut before it is dried to form the usual cashew nut, which we all are familiar with. If this fresh cashew nut is not available then we may use the dry ones by soaking them in water for an hour or so.

Ingredients:

500 gm tendle

200 gm bibbo or cashew nut soaked in warm water for an hour

1 teaspoon oil (coconut oil preferred)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon urad dal

2-3 dry red chillies

2 tablespoon shredded coconut

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Once it is hot add the mustard seeds, urad dal, and 2-3 dry red chillies. Once they start to crackle, add the tendle, bibbo, salt, and sufficient water to cook the vegetables. Once it is softly cooked and the water has evaporated add the grated coconut and serve hot with rice and dalitoi.

Cabbage Sannakotto

This is a spicy side dish prepared with shredded cabbage. This is a Konkani dish which goes very well with rice and saar upkari or dali thove. I have prepared this today and I think I should share this simple recipe with you. This sannakotto can also be prepared only with onions.

Ingredients:

2 cups of shredded cabbage

2 onions finely chopped

1 cup grated coconut

1 cup rice soaked in water

One half-cup toor daal soaked in water

A small piece of tamarind

6-7 red chillies

Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak the rice and toor dal for half an hour. Chop the onions and cabbage into very small pieces and set aside. Grind together red chillies, tamarind, and half of the grated coconut to form a thick paste. To this paste add the rice and toor dal and grind to form a coarse batter. To this mixture, add the onions, cabbage, rest of the grated coconut and salt to taste and mix well.

Now grease a deep dish and pour the cabbage and rice mixture. Cook in pressure cooker without weight for 20 minutes like we do for idlis. Once it is cool, cut the cabbage sannakotto into square pieces. Serve this hot spicy cabbage sannakotto with coconut oil. This is a perfect spicy side dish, which goes well with rice and dal.

Ambya Sasam (Ripe Mango curry)

Just before monsoon, my village produces kilos and kilos of mangoes. There are so many varities during this season. We make pickles and juices and saath (candy) using Mangoes. But mangoes are hardly a part of the meal. They are almost always served as desert. This recipe however is unique. It brings this beautiful tasting fruit into the meal. Here is a recipe which will leave you licking your fingers and asking for more. This is my sister in law's recipe.

2 to 3 small ripe mangoes peeled (you have these special mangoes which we get in our village in Karwar called 'Gotto' which is just apt for this dish)
1 small pineapple cut into bite size pieces.
1/2 cup coconut grated
2 dried red chillies
2 tsp mustard
jaggery (godda) to taste
2 green chillies, chopped fine
salt to taste
curry leaves
oil (for tadka)

Add salt and gur to taste, add green chillies and mix all together.
Grind coconut and red chillies to a coarse paste, then add 1 tsp mustard and grind to a fine paste. Add this masala to the mango and pinapple mixture and fold, till everything is mixed well.
Add enough water to bring the gravy to desired thickness - its preferred that you allow it to stay thick, making it watery will spoil the dish. Make tadka of curry leaves and mustard and add to the sasam.

This is a sweet and sour dish with a tinge of hotness.

Karathe upkari (Bitter gourd sabji)

My family has a long unfortunate history of people with Diabetes. Research has shown that bitter gourd is extremely good for people suffering from Diabetes. It reduces the blood sugar level. I cook this often for my husband.


Ingredients:
2 Julienned Bitter gourd
1 medium onion Julienned
1/2 tsp Mustad seeds
1 tsp Red chilli powder
a pinch of Turmeric
2 tsp Oil
Salt

Method:
Julienne the bitter gourd, add salt and leave aside. The salt does two important things - it allows the water in the gourd to come out and secondly it enhances the overall taste of the dish. Keep this aside for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, julienne the onion. I am an avid fan of cookery shows and see that the finer you cut the vegetables the better they taste.

Now, take a pan, heat it with oil. Add mustard seeds till it crackles. Add the onions and fry till they turn translucent. Once the onions turn pink, add turmeric and red chilli powder. I occasionally add a little bit of green chillies but that is optional.Drain the water from the bitter gourd and add to the pan. Since the karathe (bitter gourd) were soaked in salt there is no need to add salt for this dish. Fry till they are cooked and serve with Dhali thove and rice.

Arbi Raita

Hi everyone,

I am starting this blog all over again. Since I am new to blogging, I was not aware of the fact that I cannot take images from other sites. However, thanks for visiting my site and leaving all those comments and making me aware of this. Konkani recipes are vast. The ingredients and method does not vary much. I will be writing some simple Konkani recipes with commonly found ingredients. Hope it will be useful for those interested in Konkani food. Today, I will be writing this simple recipe, which is quite common in North Kanara vasarees. Hope you will like it.


Ingredients:

250 gm arbi
1-2 onions finely chopped
2 green chillies chopped
1/2 cup curd
1 teaspoon of chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the arbi well and cook them in a pressure cooker. Once it is cool, peel them and then mash them well. Add rest of the ingredients to the mashed arbi and mix well. This is a good side dish for a spicy randai or gassi.

This raita can also be done with cooked and mashed potatoes.