Dum Aloo ( Baby potatoes in yogurt gravy)

What you will need:

• Small baby potatoes - 8 to 10
• Ginger - 1 inch, finely chopped
• Onions - 1 small, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped
• Green chillies - 2, slit
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Thick yogurt (curd) - 3/4 cup
• Cream - 2 tbsp
• Cashews - 8 to 10, soaked and ground into a paste
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Corainder leaves - a small bunch
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp

How to prepare

• Heat oil in a large skillet. Add slit green chillies, chopped ginger and onions. Fry the onions until they turn slightly brown.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder and salt. Beat yogurt and add to the pan.
• Cook on a medium flame for about 5 minutes and add the peeled baby potatoes. Stir in the cream and cashew paste.
• Add water to get the desired consistency and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and cook the potatoes. Add garam masala powder and garnish with coriander leaves.

Chole (Chana Masala)

What you will need:

• Chickpeas - 1 cup
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Potato - 1 small (optional)
• Tomato - 2 small or 1 large (you can instead use store bought tomato paste - use 3 tbsp)
• Green chillies - 2 or 3
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - a few strands
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

 

How to prepare
Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Instead you can also soak it in hot water for atleast 3 hours. Cook it until soft. If you are cooking them in a pressure cooker, cook for 3 to 4 whistles and then simmer for another 10 minutes.
If adding potato, cook, peel and mash it well. This is just to make the gravy thicker.
Blend the tomato, green chillies and ginger into a coarse paste. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the tomato paste. Add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
Cook until the oil separates. Add the mashed potatoes and chickpeas and cook on a low flame for another 5 minutes. Add the garam masala. Turn the heat off and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

Tinglavare Kolombo / Sambar

What you will need:
Tingalavaro - 1/2 cup
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Vegetables - 1 cup (potato, beans, carrots etc)
Tamarind - lime sized, soaked in water
Green chillies - 3 to 4
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Mustard seeds - 2 tsps
Jaggery - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

How to prepare
Cook the beans, toor dal and vegetables with some salt, jaggery and green chillies.
Squeeze the juice out of the tamarind soaked in water. Mix the sambar powder with the tamarind juice and add to the beans and vegetables. Bring it to a boil and turn the heat off.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the seeds crackle, add the curry leaves. Pour the seasoning over the sambar.
Serve with rice, idly or dosa.

Vaingana song (Eggplant / Brinjal in a spicy tangy sauce)

What you will need:
Onions - 5 small, sliced
Tomato - 1 medium, roughly chopped
Eggplant/Brinjal - 1 medium sized, cut into small cubes
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Tamarind - lime sized, soaked in water
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

How to prepare
Squeeze the juice out of the soaked tamarind and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry until the onion is slightly brown in color.
Now add the chopped tomato, salt, red chilli powder and tamarind juice. Add 1/4 cup of water if you dont like it very dry.
Cook until the tomato is completely cooked and is completely mashed. Now add the eggplant and cover and cook.
When the eggplants are cooked, turn the heat off.
Serve hot with chapati or naan.
Also, if you make it a little watery, you can even mix it with rice and eat it.

Mooga ambat (Moong sprouts with cashews in coconut sauce)

What you will need:
Whole moong sprouts - 1/2 cup
Cashews - 10 - 12
Coconut shredded, fresh or frozen - 1 cup
Dried whole red chillies - 6 - 8
Tamarind - size of a chickpea
Onion - chopped 1 cup
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands

How to prepare

Grind the coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a smooth paste.
Boil water in a pan and cook the moong sprouts together with the onion and cashews. Cook until the moong is almost cooked, but is still firm and not mashed up.
Remove the excess water from the moong. Add the ground masala to the cooked moong. Add salt and bring the mixture to a boil and turn off heat.
In a pan heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the curry leaves and pour the seasoning over the mooga ambat. Serve hot with rice.

Mushroom Masala

What you will need:
Mushrooms - 12-15 big, sliced
Onion - 2 medium sized, sliced
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized, finely chopped
Coriander leaves - few finely chopped
Cream - 2 tbsp (or use 1/4 cup milk instead)
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

How to prepare
Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced onions and cook until the onions are slightly brown in color. Now add the tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, red chilli and coriander powder. Cover and cook until the tomatoes are cooked and mashed.
Add the mushrooms and salt. Cover and cook. When the mushrooms are half done, add the cream/milk. When mushrooms are almost done, add the coriander leaves and garam masala powder. Bring it to a boil and turn off the heat. Serve hot with any Indian bread or rice.

Alle Piyavu Fish ( Fish in coconut and onion-ginger gravy)

Alle piao is one of the most popular fish recipes in a 'Konkani' household. Alle in konkani means ginger and piyavu / piao means onion. Eventhough the masolu(gravy) is similar to many other konkani curries, the ginger adds a unique flavour to this preparation. This recipe was requested by Mr. Kishor Rao from Maharashtra. I used tilapia fish for this recipe.
What you will need:
1 fish (cut into 2" pieces)
1 cup shredded fresh/frozen coconut
6 dry fried red chillies
3 - 4 green chillies, slit
tamarind - about half the size of a lime
1" piece ginger - finely chopped
1 small onion - finely chopped
2 tsp oil
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Grind coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a fine paste.
Transfer the paste into a pan. Add water to get the desired consistency.
Add salt, chopped ginger, green chillies and onion and bring it to a boil.
Add the fish and cook until the fish is done.
Pour the oil on top and turn the heat off.
I like to add coconut oil as it brings a unique taste to this preparation.

Quick and Spicy fish curry

This is one of the easiest fish curries I have ever made. It just takes 10 minutes of preparation. I used tilapia fish for this preparation. I like to make it very spicy. After a long day at work, I like to eat this spicy fish with paij (rice soup, usually made with boiled rice).
What you will need:
1 small fish (cleaned and cut into 2" pieces)
1 tsp chilli powder (or more)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Mix all the powders and ginger garlic paste with 1/4 cup of water to make a paste.
Heat the oil. Add the paste and fry until the raw smell of the paste goes away.
Add the fish pieces and 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook until the fish is done.
Turn the heat off and add the lemon juice.

Palak Paneer ( Spinach with cottage cheese )

What you will need:
1 cup cubed paneer
1 cup chopped tomatoes
4 cups chopped spinach
1" ginger
1-2 green chillies
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 cup cream or 1 cup milk
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Blend the spinach coarsely but make sure it does not become a paste.Keep aside.
Blend the tomatoes, chillies and ginger into a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the tomato paste.
Add the coriander powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Cook until the oil separates from the paste. Add the spinach and cover and cook for 15 minutes.
Add salt and cream or milk and cook until the spinach is completely cooked.
Now add the paneer cubes and mix gently. Cover and cook on low heat for about 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Matar Paneer ( Peas in cottage cheese )

What you will need:
1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen peas
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1" piece of ginger
2-3 green chillies
1 cup cubed paneer (cottage cheese)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup cream or 1 cup thick milk
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 bay leaf
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Cook the peas with a little salt and keep aside.I do not like to deep-fry the paneer, but if you like it that way, you could deep fry the paneer cubes until light brown in color. Instead I put the paneer cubes in water for 15 minutes so that the smell goes away and use them as it is.
Grind together the tomatoes, ginger and green chillies into a fine paste.
Heat oil. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf and cinnamon stick and fry until you smell the aroma of the cinnamon stick.
Add the tomato paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder. Cook until the oil separates from the paste.
Add the cooked peas and adjust the salt. Now add the paneer and cream or milk. Add crushed kasoori methi to the gravy. Let the mixture boil for 3-4 minutes.
Serve hot with roti, parantha or rice.

Valval / Yogiratna / Avial ( Vegetables in coconut sauce)

Valval is made with all different kinds of vegetables. You can use alsande beans( yard long beans), tendle ( ivy gourd), ghosale(ridge gourd) , magge( yellow cucumber / mangalore sautekayi), bikkand( jackfruit seed), batato(potato), soornu(yam), kanang(sweet potato), phagil(kantolas), bibbo (cashews) etc.

What you will need:
3 cups of vegetables
2 cups shredded fresh/frozen coconut OR 1 can of coconut milk
6 green chillies
2 tbsp ghee / clarified butter
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 strands of curry leaves
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Cook the vegetables with salt and green chillies.
Grind the coconut and strain the milk out of it or you can instead use canned coconut milk. Pour the coconut milk into the cooked vegetables. Bring the mixture to a boil. If you the curry to be a little thicker, then you can mix 2 tsp of maida in a little water and add to the curry. In a separate pan, heat the ghee. Add mustard seeds and when they crackle, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Pour this over the curry. Serve hot with rice.

Chane Ghashi with kadgi (Chick peas with raw jackfruit in coconut gravy)

Chane ghashi is one of the most popular konkani dish. It is always on the menu, be it for a wedding or for dinner after a function at the devasthan (temple). The same dish is prepared with roasted coconut( soyi bhajjile chane ghashi) and it tastes entirely different. I will try to post that recipe soon.
What you will need:
1 cup chick-peas ( soaked overnight )
1 can raw jackfruit ( you can use potatoes or yam (soornu) instead)
1 cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen
6-7 fried red chillies
small piece of tamarind
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
some curry leaves
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Soak the chickpeas overnight. Usually the black channa is used to prepare this curry. You can use canned chick-peas instead. Cook the soaked chick-peas well. I use the pressure cooker to cook them. Cook the vegetable separately (raw jackfruit or potatoes) with a little salt. Grind together the coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a smooth paste. Add the ground masala to the cooked chick peas. Also add the cooked vegetable and salt and bring it to a boil. Head oil and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the curry leaves and then add it to the chick peas. Serve hot with rice.

Jeevkadgi butti ( ButterFruit in coconut gravy)

What you will need:
2 cups butterfruit ( jeevkadgi) cut into small pieces
1 cup grated coconut, fresh or frozen
2 medium onions
8 fried red chillies
2 tsp coriander seeds
small piece of tamarind(or 1 tsp tamarind paste)
6 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste

How to prepare:
Cook the butterfruit pieces with a little salt and set aside. Cut the onions into thin slices and keep aside. Grind coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a paste. The paste does not have to be very smooth. Then add the coriander seeds and grind again. Head oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to cracke, add the sliced onions and saute for a minute. After the raw smell of the onion goes away, add the ground masala and some salt and fry for a minute. Now add the cooked butterfruit. This dish is semi-dry, so do not add a lot of water. Cook the mixture for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with rice.