341) KONKANI TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

KONKANI TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

KIRLU AMBADA NONCHE

Introduction:

          Konkani kirlu ambada nonche is a supremely delicious, hot, tangy and salty tender bamboo and hog plum pickle. Traditionally, this pickle is prepared using fresh unprocessed tender bamboo pickle. You can also make the pickle using salted tender bamboo pieces (see my tender bamboo in Konkani cuisine article). While using fresh bamboo, the sap is retained and the bamboo pieces are crisp and crunchy.

          When you use salted bamboo, the pieces are soft. So too, as hog plums were not available, I have used fresh green acerola cherries which grow in our courtyard with surprising results. They are crisp, tangy and thrillingly delicious. This pickle will truly sweep you off your feet!

Ingredients:

     1)    Kirlu (fresh tender bamboo, Mulankoombe in Malayalam) pieces or juliennes – 300 gm. 

     2)    Green acerola cherries – 200 gm. OR fresh tender hog plums – 200 gm.

     3)    Mustard (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 50 gm.

     4)    Dry Kashmiri chilies (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 25 gm.

     5)    Dry hot red chilies (preferably sun-dried for 2 hours) – 25 gm.

     6)    Asafoetida powder – 2 gm. (½ teaspoon)

     7)    Salt – 50 gm.

     8)    Water – 500 ml.

To make mitta paej (brine):

          Put the salt and the water together in a vessel and set on the stove. Stir till the salt dissolves. Boil for 5 minutes and switch off the heat. Let cool naturally.

To make the pickle:

          Put the mustard into the dry grind jar (preferably sun-dried) of your food processor, grind to fine powder and set aside. Put both the chilies together with the brine into the wet grind jar (preferably sun-dried) of your food processor and grind to superfine paste in 2 or 3 batches. Transfer to a clean, dry mixing bowl.

Tip in the mustard powder, the asafoetida powder, the acerola cherries (or the hog plums) and the bamboo pieces. Mix thoroughly with a clean dry ladle. Transfer the pickle to a sun-dried airtight jar. Close the lid and store in a cool, dry place to rest for 5 to 7 days. Your delicious Konkani kirlu ambada nonche (in this case, kirlu cherry nonche) is ready to eat. Enjoy with rice, roasted idlis, machkats, nuchi, undis, soyyea polos or with shevai.

 

Bon appétit!

Notes:

     1)    Take care to refrigerate the pickle once you start using it. Always use a clean, dry spoon.

     2)    The ingredients and utensils are sun-dried to remove unwanted moisture and to gain a longer shelf-life.

331) BAMBOO SHOOT PICKLE

BAMBOO SHOOT PICKLE

A HOT, TANGY, CRUNCHY TENDER BAMBOO PICKLE

Ingredients:

     1)    Processed (for processing instructions, please see my tender bamboo in Konkani cuisine article), finely chopped tender bamboo pieces – 625 gm.

     2)    Peeled garlic cloves – 75 gm.

     3)    Peeled, finely chopped ginger – 5 gm.

     4)    Hot green chilies – 15 gm.

     5)    Sesame (gingelly) oil – 150 ml.

     6)    Hot red chili powder – 10 gm.

     7)    Kashmiri chili powder – 15 gm.

     8)    Mustard seeds – 3 gm.

     9)    Mustard powder – 10 gm.

     10)    Turmeric powder – 2 gm.

     11)    Asafoetida powder – 2 gm.

     12)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     13)   Sugar – 25 gm.

     14)    Powdered salt – 35 gm.

     15)    Vinegar – 150 ml.

To cook:

          Put the hot red chili powder, the Kashmiri chili powder, the mustard powder, the turmeric powder, the asafoetida powder, the sugar and the powdered salt into a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Chop the hot green chilies to fine bits and set aside.

          Set a wok or frying pan on high heat. Pour in the oil and tip in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish popping, pull the curry leaves off their sprig and throw them in. Stir once and tip in the chopped chili, the ginger and the garlic cloves. Lower the heat and stir-fry for a minute.

          Now put in the tender bamboo and turn up the heat. Mix thoroughly and stir continuously for 2 minutes. Lower the heat and stir frequently for 3 more minutes. Pour in half of the vinegar (75 ml.), mix thoroughly and switch off the heat.

          Let cool naturally without a lid. When cool, transfer to four small (200 ml.) airtight jars and pour the rest of the vinegar on top of the pickle. Seal and set aside to rest for 3 days.

Enjoy this delicious bamboo shoot pickle with rice, chappatis, dosas, machkats, biriyani, fried rice or just about any food you like. This pickle is so good you will finish it in no time!

Bon appétit!

Note:

          Once a jar is opened for use, keep it refrigerated for freshness.

330) PAPADA GOJJU

PAPADA GOJJU

A TANGY, HOT, YUMMY KONKANI PAPAD SALAD

A PAPAD KACHIMBER GUARANTEED TO BRING TASTE TO YOUR TONGUE

Introduction:

          Ever wondered what to do with leftover deep-fried papads going soft? Or with softened roasted papads for that matter? What if you could create a dish fit for a gourmet king to drool over! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients (see note):

     1)    Fried papads (turning soft) – 70 gm. (any papad – plain, pepper, masala or chili papad or a combination will do)

     2)    Tamarind – 20 gm.

     3)    Dry hot red chilies – 3 gm.

     4)    Peeled onion – 110 gm.

     5)    Cooking oil – 1 tablespoon (15 ml.)

     6)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon (2 gm.)

     7)    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

     8)    Powdered salt – 5 gm.

     9)    Drinking water – 150 ml.

To make:

          Put the tamarind in a small bowl and pour in the water. Squeeze well with your fingers till most of the pulp dissolves in the water. Set aside to soak.

Chop the onion to superfine pieces and set aside. Use a pair of scissors to cut the dry chilies to fine rings and set aside. Cut the papads to thin slivers likewise and set aside.

Sieve the tamarind juice into a serving bowl. Squeeze and sieve the pomace (residue) and collect the remaining juice too. Tip in the chopped onion and the powdered salt.

Set a small pan or skillet on low heat. Pour in the oil and throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds finish crackling, pull the curry leaves off their sprig and throw them in together with the chili rings. Stir once and empty the contents into the serving bowl. Mix well and set aside.

 

          Just before serving the dish, tip in the papad pieces and mix. Enjoy your exhilarating papada gojju as a side dish to rice.

 

Enjoy!!!

Note:

For this recipe, I used 9 regular plain papads and a couple of chili papads. If leftover papads are not in stock, just crumble fresh fried papads with your fingers and mix them in.

321) KAPPA WITH MULAKE CHAMMANDI

KAPPA WITH MULAKE CHAMMANDI

DELICIOUS KERALA CASSAVA WITH HOT AND TANGY CHILI SALAD

Introduction:

          For centuries, the people of Kerala and cassava (or kappa as it is called in Malayalam) have been conjoined as inseparably as body and soul. Ever since the Portuguese introduced cassava in India nearly 4 centuries ago, the farmers of Kerala have come to consider it as the poor man’s bread and have developed a staunch liking for this delicious root.

The Christian community in particular, accepted this food crop so wholeheartedly that the first settlers in the hill districts of Wayanad and Idukki as well as the foothills of most other districts subsisted almost entirely on cassava grown on land cleared of forests.

Even today, many families are happy to enjoy cassava in place of rice or wheat 4 to 5 times a day, having it with mulake / mulaku chammandi, meen mulakittathe, wheat curries, bone marrow biriyani or as sardine cassava. From the poor man’s kitchen, cassava has now earned its place with royal splendour upon the dining tables in 5 star hotels. Cassava is called kappa, mara kizhangu, poola and kolli kizhangu in Malayalam and badi kanange in Konkani. In Wayanad district, tens of delicious varieties of cassava are cultivated, the tastiest of them being Aambakkadan.

My children love cassava and often ask me to make dishes like kozhikkal, kizhangu pori, cassava sticklets, kappa with mulake chammandi, chendan (boiled pieces) kappa with losune gojju, cassava upma, kappa bonda or cassava bhaji. Here is a fine recipe for kappa with mulake chammandi. Do cook and enjoy!

Ingredients for the kappa:

     1)    Peeled, washed and roughly chopped cassava cubes (see note) – 1300 gm.

     2)    Water – 1500 ml.

     3)    Salt – 15 gm. (3 teaspoons)

     4)    Turmeric powder – 3 gm. (½ teaspoon)

     5)    Hot green chilies – 10 gm.

     6)    Dry hot red chilies – 2 gm.

     7)    Mustard seeds – 5 gm. (1 teaspoon)

     8)    Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

     9)    Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

     10)    Grated coconut – 100 gm.

     11)    Coconut water – 75 ml.

Ingredients for the mulake chammandi:

     1)    Hot green chilies or pigeon eye chilies (kandari mulake) – 20 gm.

     2)    Dry hot red chilies – 2 gm.

     3)    Peeled garlic cloves – 10 gm.

     4)    Vinegar / tamarind juice / garcinia cambogia (kudampuli) juice – 50 ml.

     5)    Salt – 10 gm. (2 teaspoons)

 

To make the mulake chammandi:

          Chop both the chilies and the garlic cloves to fine bits and put them in a tiny serving bowl. Tip in the salt, pour in the vinegar, mix well. Your simple, mouthwatering mulake chammandi is ready.

To cook the kappa:

          Put the cassava cubes, the water, the salt and the turmeric powder into a vessel and set on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cover partially with a lid. Stir occasionally and let the cassava cook for 15 minutes. Press upon a cube with the edge of a sharp ladle or a knife to see if it is cooked. The cube should slice easily. If not, continue to cook for a few more minutes (cooking times may vary slightly for different cultivars grown in different soils).

          Switch off the heat and drain off the broth. It is important to drain off all the water as it gets rid of the sap of the cassava as well as any soil borne pollutants, rendering it quite safe to eat (see note). Now pour in the coconut water and set aside.

          Chop the hot green chilies as well as the dry hot red chilies to fine bits. Pull the curry leaves off their sprig and set aside. Set a skillet or small pan on low heat. Pour in the coconut oil and throw in the mustard seeds.

          As soon as the mustard seeds are about to finish popping, throw in the curry leaves and the chili bits. Stir once, switch off the heat and empty the contents into the kappa.

          Turn on the heat and stir the kappa well for a minute. Tip in the grated coconut and stir nicely. Switch off the heat. Enjoy your delicious kappa hot with mulake chammandi. I am sure you will love this dish.

Bon appétit!

Notes:

     1)    While chopping the cassava tubers, be sure to remove the thick, hard, long fibre that runs through the centre as well as the hard, bony end where the cassava connects to the stem of the plant. 2 kg. of freshly dug cassava will give you over 1300 gm. of clean, usable portions.

     2)    Raw cassava is poisonous. So it is always best eaten well cooked. Rats and bandicoots consume large quantities of raw cassava without ill effects as they are wise enough to eat charcoal to nullify the toxic sap. This technique, however, is definitely not for us humans!

230) KINGFISH BIRINDE CURRY

KINGFISH BIRINDE CURRY

A FISH CURRY TO DROOL OVER!!!

Ingredients:

     1)    Kingfish slices or fillets – 600 gm.

     2)    Birinde (dried peel of cocum fruit of a type of Garcinia tree that grows along the west coast of Karnataka and Goa, India) – 50 gm.

Soaked dried cocum rind (birinde)

     3)    Hot red chili powder – 7 teaspoons

     4)    Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Onion – 200 gm.

     6)    Ginger – 1 inch piece

     7)    Curry leaves – 3 sprigs

     8)    Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon

     9)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     10)     Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

     11)     Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons

     12)     Salt – 2½ teaspoons

To Cook:

          Soak the birinde in 200 ml. of water for an hour. Wash the kingfish slices or fillets in a solution of 15 ml. of vinegar in a litre of water. This will make the fish extra clean. Now rinse the fish in 2 or 3 changes of clear water. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl.

          Tip in 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and the turmeric powder. Mix nicely with your fingers and set aside. Peel the ginger and the onion. Chop the ginger to fine bits. Chop the onion roughly lengthwise to pieces. Tip in the bits of ginger together with the onion pieces into the mixing bowl and mix them nicely with the fish. Cover the bowl and keep it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to marinate nicely.

          Meanwhile, squeeze the soaked birinde nicely in its water in order to diffuse its bright scarlet colour, its super tanginess and its flavor into the water. Sieve and set aside the juice. Pluck the curry leaves from their sprigs and set aside.

          Once the 30 minutes are up, take out the fish from the fridge. Set a flat curry vessel on high heat. Pour in the coconut oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping (unpopped mustard seeds have a bitter taste), tip in the fenugreek seeds. Stir twice and tip in the curry leaves. Stir once and tip in the rest of the chili powder (5 teaspoons). Lower the heat to minimum.

          Stir thrice and tip in the coriander powder. Stir twice and pour in the birinde juice. Add 300 ml. of water and tip in the rest of the salt (1½ teaspoons). Turn up the heat. Stir and taste. Add a bit more salt if required. As soon as it comes to a boil, tip in the marinated fish together with the onion and ginger pieces and any juice that may have oozed out.

          Stir gently. As it boils nicely again, the flesh of the fish will turn opaque and whitish, which means that it is cooked. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Let the curry rest for at least 2 hours (the more it rests, the better it tastes).

          Serve with soft par boiled rice. Enjoy and know what enjoyment really means!!!

Notes:

     1)    Do not use shellfish or sardines to make this curry. If kingfish is not available, you can use any other fish which can be sliced or filleted to make this wonderful curry.

     2)    Persons who are not medically allowed to take too much chilies, salt or sour ingredients in their diet can reduce the quantities specified to suit their needs.

     3)    Birinde is rich in iron and vitamins and is far better for health than tamarind and is much tastier too. It is also more colorful.

     4)    This special curry can be reheated and used over a period of 2 or 3 days (only, of course, if you prepare more!).

127) BIMBLA NONCHE

BIMBLA NONCHÉ

A KONKANI CUCUMBER TREE FRUIT PICKLE

  

Ingredients:

     1)    Very tender cucumber tree fruit – 700 gm.

     2)    Hot red chili powder – 100 gm.

     3)    Mustard seeds – 150 gm.

     4)    Asafoetida powder – ¼ teaspoon

     5)    Powdered salt – 2½ tablespoons (100 gm.)

To Make:

          Put the mustard seeds into a clean and dry food processor and grind to fine powder. Set aside. The cucumber tree fruit (Bimbul in Konkani, Bilimbi, Chilimbi puli or Irimban puli in Malayalam) should be very young and approximately an inch in length. Cut off the tip with the stem. In case some of the cucumber tree fruit are a little bigger than an inch in size, split those into halves. The smaller ones can be pickled as such.

          Wash them in a solution of 2 litres of clean water with 30 ml. of vinegar. This will get rid of the stickiness in the skin of the fruit and the fruit will be ultra clean. Drain and put the cucumber tree fruit in an airtight glass jar. Tip in the chili powder, the powdered salt, the mustard powder and the asafoetida powder.

          Close the lid and shake the jar well to mix the powder with the fruit. Pour in enough drinking water to just submerge the fruit. Close the lid and shake again. Let rest for 2 days for the salt and the spices to penetrate the fruit and also for the fruit juice to leech into the pickle.

          Enjoy with rice, roasted idlis, unndis, shevai (rice noodles), bakris or pathiris.

Mouthwatering bimbla nonché with roasted Idlis

125) KARMBALA UMMAN

KARMBALA UMMAN

A KONKANI SWEET, HOT & TANGY, HEALTHY STAR FRUIT DESSERT

Introduction:

          Star fruit is a notable blessing of Mother Nature to mankind. Other than providing a plentitude of vitamin C, star fruit has got certain curative properties too. It is widely believed that star fruit juice has the power to relieve people of phlegmatic problems and that it can lower cholesterol levels. Star fruit juice when combined with mosambi (sweet lemon / citrus limetta - a type of orange with hard peel and sweet yellowish pulp abundantly grown in India) juice gives you a delicious health drink. 

          Konkanis often roast the ripe star fruit and pound it along with some sugar cane rock candy. The juice is sieved and administered to little children (2 to 4 years old) suffering from acute cold and phlegm. Children also love to eat ripe star fruit with the ridges removed and cut into star-like slices and sprinkled with sugar. It is so tasty, adults too find it irresistible. Karmbala umman is one of favourite desserts of Konkani people. I am sure you will love this dish.

Ingredients:

     1)    Fully ripe star fruit/carambola (chathura puli or yenu puli in Malayalam, Karambal in Konkani) (do not use raw or immature star fruit) – 1 kg.

     2)    Jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) – 400 gm.

     3)    Urad dal (split black gram lentils) – 1 teaspoon

     4)    Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

     5)    Fenugreek seeds – ¼ teaspoon

     6)    Dry hot red chilies – 5 Nos.

     7)    Coconut oil or other cooking oil – 1 tablespoon

     8)    Tender curry leaves – 3 sprigs

     9)    Salt – 1¼ teaspoons

To Cook:

          Wash the star fruit. Cut off 5 mm. pieces from both ends. Cut away the ridges and set aside. Break each of the dry hot red chilies into 2 or 3 pieces and set aside. Pull out the tender curry leaves from their sprigs and set aside.

          In a small pan, put in the jaggery together with 50 ml. of water. Melt on low heat stirring frequently. When fully melted, sieve and set aside.

          Set a flat vessel or pan on high heat. Spread out the star fruit. Pour in enough water to submerge the star fruit. Tip in the salt. When it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the melted jaggery and cook for five more minutes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. If the star fruit syrup tastes too sour, add a little sugar to adjust to your taste (If the star fruit is a little less ripe or immature, it may be sourer. If it is too tender, this dessert will be a disaster).

          Switch off the heat and cover with a lid. Set a skillet or small pan on low heat. Pour in the oil. Throw in the mustard seeds. As soon as they are about to finish popping, put in the fenugreek seeds. When the fenugreek starts to crackle, tip in the urad dal. Stir till the urad dal turns light brown. Now tip in the broken dry hot red chilies. Stir once and put in the curry leaves. Switch off the heat and tip over the entire contents of the pan into the star fruit dish. Stir well and cover with lid. Let rest for 30 minutes. Your delicious karmbala umman is now ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!