Konkanirecipes.com

alle means ginger and losaNi is garlic in konkani. I dont know the origin of this recipe nor have I eaten this anywhere else other than my home. I grew up knowing this as one of my father’s comfort food. This is a very easy to make affair and is simply lots of cut ginger and garlic fried in ghee and seasoned with black pepper and salt. When this is mixed with steaming hot rice and eaten, it is heavenly and very satisfying not to mention the health benefits of all the ingredients. It is especially good in winters.

Ingredients

• Chopped garlic - 2 tablespoons
• Chopped ginger - 2 tablespoons
• Ghee (clarified butter) - 2 tablespoons
• Green chillies (optional) - 1
• Crushed Black pepper - half teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

• Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed pan and fry all the ingredienst (except salt and pepper) on a low-medium flame.
• Keep frying till it starts to change color. Add salt and pepper and it is ready to be served.

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes.

pathrode

Pathrode is a konkani speciality dish. It is also made in other parts of India like Gujarath and Maharastra but the masala is different. Even in konkani households, the proportion of the spices and daals varies. Some people add some jaggery to give it a sweetish taste. But I have always preferred the non-sweet version. Pathrode is made out of Colocasia leaves (aLva paan). Some of the Colocasia leaves are itchy.. so you have to be a little careful when choosing the leaves. The tender ones are supposed to be non-itchy. Tamarind is always added more to any dishes with Colocasia to offset any itchiness.

Ingredients

• Prepared colocasia leaves - 4-5
• Toor dal - 3 cups (or 2 cups Toor daal and 1 cup greengram )
• Rice - 2 cups
• Tamarind - lemon sized ball
• Hing/Asafoetida - 2 pinches
• Grated coconut - 1.5 to 2 cups
• Red chillies - 8 to 10

Method

• Prepare the leaves by washing thoroughly with water and trimming the thick veins on the back.
• Soak the rice and daal for 4-5 hours and grind to a paste (Neither very coarse nor very fine)
• Grind the coconut, chillies, tamarind and hing to a chutney consistency.
• Mix the 2 pastes and add salt to taste.
• Rub the paste on the back of one leaf, then layer the second leaf and rub more paste. Arrange about 4-5 leaves this way.
• Roll the layered leaves and steam it the way you would steam idlis. It will take 30-35 minutes to cook properly.
• Allow it to cook a little and cut the pathrode in small rings and serve by topping with a little coconut oil. It is yummylicious :)

Preparation time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: 30 minutes.

cabbage pakoras

I have been MIA for a long time now. Want to regularly post new recipes again. This weekend it was raining all the time. So I was in the mood for this spicy cabbage baje and piping hot tea.

Ingredients

• Finely shredded cabbage - 1 cup
• 1 onion cut into small pieces
• green chillies - 4 to 5
• ginger - 1 inch (grated)
• cilantro chopped (to taste)
• salt to taste
• Red Chilli powder (to taste)
• gram flour (besan) - about half cup
• oil to deep fry

Method

• Heat some oil in a kadai. In the meantime chop all the veggies.
• In a bowl take all the chopped veggies, add salt and chilli powder and mix well. When onions come in contact with salt, it leaves some water.
• Add besan to this and mix well. Add few drops of water to hold the veggies and besan together.
• Take very small amounts of this thick mixture and deep fry in oil. In general these bajjis are irregularly shaped. Fry on medium flame till they start turning golden.
• Serve as a snack with Ketchup or as a sidedish with rice and daal.

Preparation time: 15 minutes.

ivygourd sidedish

tendli is one of my favourites. I buy tendli very often. It tastes wonderful when it is tender.But it ripens very quickly and tastes tangy. In such cases, I make this gojju. It is very simple to make and yummy.

Ingredients

• tendli - 1 cup
• green chillies - 2 to 3
• curry leaves - 6 to 7
• grated coconut - 2 tablespoons
• mustard - 1/4 teaspoon
• hing/asafoetida - a pinch
• salt to taste

Method

• Wash and pressure cook the tendli
• When it cools, mash it coarsely with a serving spoon.
• Add salt, green chillies, grated coconut and mix well
• Temper with mustard, curry leaves and hing
• Serve with rice and curry of your choice

Preparation time: 20 minutes

If the tendli is not ripe and sour, you can add tamarind.

poha with potato

poha is flattened rice and is called phovu in konkani. There are different kinds of phovu and also different dishes are made with them. phovu is very popular in konkani households. This one is a popular breakfast item. It is prepared using only the basic ingredients like potato, onions, coconut and green chillies. It is a very filling breakfast item/evening snack.

Ingredients

• poha - 1 cup
• onion - 1 small
• potato - 1 small - cut into tiny pieces
• green chillies - 3 to 4
• curry leaves - 6 to 7
• grated coconut - 2 tablespoons
• turmeric powder - a pinch
• salt to taste
• Lemon juice - (to taste)

Method

• Wash and soak the poha in water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the water out of the poha and set it aside.
• Heat some oil in a kadai and add the onions, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry till the onion turns translucent.
• Add turmeric powder and the potato pieces. Add salt and cook on a very low flame till the potato becomes soft.
• Finally add the poha, grated coconut and mix evenly.
• Add some lemon juice to taste

Preparation time: 20 minutes

bottle gourd sweetdish

Bottlegourd is called garadudde in konkani. It is a very versatile vegetable. It can be used to make both spicy and sweet dishes and is supposed to have a cooling effect on the body. I like this paayas a lot and it is also very easy to make.

Ingredients

• bottlegourd cut into very small pieces - 2 cups
• sugar - 4 tablespoons
• cardmom powder - half teaspoon
• Raisins and cashews
• milk - 1 cup

Method

• Cook the bottlegourd pieces, raisins and cashews with some water till they are tender.
• Add sugar and cook for some more time. The quantity of sugar may vary according to taste. (I like it to be moderately sweet)
• Add milk and cardmom powder and cook for some time on a low flame stirring now and then till you get the desired consisitency.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

moong daal

This is rather like daaLitoi but made with moong daal instead. I like this toi a lot compared to the regular one. This is my MIL’s recipe and very easy to make.

Ingredients

• Moong daal - half cup
• A small tomato
• Green chillies - 2 to 3
• Red chillies - 1
• Curry leaves - 3 to 4
• Hing/Asafoetida
• Mustard - half teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method

• In a pressure cooker, fry the moong daal for a while (without oil) till the raw smell goes away. It should not turn brown.
• Now add the tomatoes and green chillies and pressure cook with enough water. (3 to 4 whistles)
• After the pressure is released, transfer the contents to a different vessel and mash the green chillies and tomato with a ladle.
• Add salt and bring to a boil.
• Season with mustard, hing, red chillies and curry leaves.
• Serve with rice.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

eggplant sidedish

eNagaayi means eNNe (oil) + kaayi (vegetable). The eggplants are fried in oil and then the masala is added. The tiniest variety of the eggplants must be used for this eNagaayi.

eNagaayi is very popular and commonly made in North karnataka belt of Hubli, Dharwad, Bijapur etc It is made as a sidedish with joLada rotti. (jowar rotti)

There are lots of versions of this eNagaayi. This is my MIL’s recipe and I like it a lot. She makes it usually for dinner along with chapati or akki-rotti.

The eggplants must be carefully chosen for this dish and then 4 cuts must be made into it from the bottom, with the crown of the eggplant being kept intact. The cuts are needed to allow the eggplant to cook well.

Ingredients

• Eggplants (readied as mentioned above) - 10 to 12
• Mint leaves (pudina) - half cup
• Green chillies - 2
• Onion - 2 average onions or 1 big one cut into small pieces
• Tomatoes - 2 small or 1 big cut into small pieces
• Cilantro - about half the quantity of mint leaves
• Red chillies - 4 to 5
• Grated coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
• Jeera - a pinch
• Peppercorns - 2
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Method

• In a wide bottomed kadai, heat about 4 tablespoons of oil and add half portion of the onions and fry till translucent.
• Now add half portion of tomatoes and a few pudina leaves and fry for a while.
• Add the eggplants and keep frying on a low flame with some salt.
• Meanwhile, in a separate pan, fry all the remaining ingredients except cilantro and coconut on a low flame for about 7-8 minutes. You should be getting a very nice aroma by now.
• Keep stirring the eggplants in the other kadai.
• Now grind all the fried items along with cilantro and coconut with some water.
• When the eggplants are cooked, add this masala to it and give it a thorough boil.
• Allow it to cook for some more time to get the desired consistency.
• Serve with chapati or akki (rice) roTTi or joLada (jowar) roTTi.

Preparation time: 45 minutes