SOL KADHI / KOKUM DRINK

Sol Kadhi is a drink from Goa and Konkan region of Maharashtra. It is made with kokum extract and coconut milk to which a little tempering is added. Sometimes it is also made plain without the addition of coconut milk.This is  usually taken after eating spicy food as it cools down the digestive system. Kokam is an excellent antidote for acidity problems. It can be had with plain rice as well.
Our group Shhhhh Cooking Secretly decided to go for Goan Cuisine this month. I was paired with Kriti Singhal Agrawal who blogs at - Krispy Kadhai .. Do check out her space for yummy recipes.

Ingredients:
Kokums ... 8-10
Coconut milk .. 200 ml. (I used ready tetra pack one)
Garlic paste ... 1/2 tsp
Green chilli paste .. 1/4 tsp (adjust to your liking)
Crushed cumin seeds .. 2 pinches or use whole
Curry leaves ... 2-3 (crushed with hand)
Coriander leaves .. for garnishing.
Salt ......... to taste
Oil .... 1 tsp

Method:

1. Soak the kokums in warm water for few hours.

2. Crush them with hand nicely.

3. Strain the water in a bowl and set aside discarding the kokums.

4. Take the garlic and chilli paste in a strainer and pour some liquid over it and press with the spoon to extract the flavours.

5. Stir in the coconut milk and little salt as needed. Be careful in adding the salt as the kokums are also usually salted

6. Crush the cumin seeds lightly or use whole if you like.

7. Heat a tsp of oil and add the whole or crushed cumin seeds and curry leaves. When they crackle stir them into the kadhi. Garnish with coriander leaves.

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POTATO SAGU

This is a side dish from Karnataka Cuisine usually served for breakfast with puris and dosas along with the chutneys. You can prepare it even with mixed vegetables. It hardly takes time to prepare and tastes so good. It is quite similar to Bombay chutney in taste. For variation some people like to add onion and tomato. It is entirely up to you to prepare with or without them.

Ingredients:
Potatoes ... 4-5 smaller size (boiled)
Onion ....... 2 tbsps (finely chopped)
Green chilies ... 2 (chopped or slit)
Ginger paste .... 1 tsp
Besan ............  1 tbsp
Turmeeric powder .. 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves .. handful
Salt

For tempering:
Chana dal .. 1 tsp
Urad dal .... 1 tsp
Mustard seeds .. 1 tsp
Curry leaves .. few
Asafoetida .. 2 pinches
Oil ....... 2 tbsps

Method:

Heat oil and add the tempering ingredients.

When they crackle, add the ginger and green chillies followed by onion. Saute until translucent.

Now add the besan and saute for a minute.

Add about one and half cups water.

Season with salt and turmeric.

Tip in the boiled potatoes and simmer.

Cover the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes until done. The consistency of this should be medium. (Not too thick not too thin)

Watch the video:

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KONKANI MUTTON CURRY

I like trying out traditional dishes from various regions. I specially love the non-veg curries from the Southern Coastal regions. Most of them are coconut based and spicy and can be served with rice, akki rotis, dosas and appams.
Here is a Konkan style mutton curry. My version is milder. You can increase the spice level as per your liking.

Ingredients:
Mutton ...... 500 gms (with bones)
Ginger garlic paste ... 2 tbsps (for marination)
Salt ................ to taste
Turmeric powder .. 1/2 tsp
Oil ................... 1/4 cup
Onion ............ 1 cup (sliced)
Tomato ......... 1 medium (sliced)

For Dry Masala:
Coriander seeds .... 1 tbsp
Poppy seeds .......... 1 tsp
Sesame seeds ....... 1 tsp
Fennel seeds ....... 1 tsp
Cumin seeds ........ 1 tsp
Cloves ............... 4-5
Green cardamoms .. 4-5
Cinnamon stick ....... 1" piece
Star anise ................. 1

For Wet Masala:
Coconut .......... 1/2 cup or 3/4 th cup
Green chillies ... 3-4
Coriander leaves .. 1/2 cup
Garlic ................. 6-7 cloves
Ginger ............. 1" piece
Onion ............ 1 (sliced and sauteed lightly)
Water ............ as needed for grinding.

Method:

Wash the mutton. Marinate it with ginger garlic paste and salt.

Roast the dry masalas and grind them to a powder.

Roast the coconut in a pan until it changes the colour. Remove it in a bowl.

In the same pan heat a little oil and saute the sliced onion mentioned in the wet masala list.

Now grind the wet masala ingredients adding a little water.

Stir in the dry masala powder and blend together. Set it aside.

Now heat a little oil in a pan and fry the sliced onions until light brown for the mutton. Add a tomato and some water to cook it.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat 2-3 tbsps of oil in a pressure cooker. Add the marinated mutton and stir fry for 5 minutes.

Now add the sauteed onion and tomato to it.

Add salt and turmeric powder and stir fry  for a minute or two until the oil separates. Add two cups of water and close the cooker lid. Cook for 5-6 whistles or more depending on the quality of meat. Check it out and cook until three-fourths done.

Now tip in the masala paste and one cup of water. (the quantity of water depends on the consistency of the gravy you want to make)

Close the pressure cooker again and cook for 2-3 whistles. Open it after it cools down.










Note: Traditionally the mutton is slow cooked in a pan or earthen pot. You can do that if you find very tender mutton. These days what we get is so tough and takes very long time to slow-cook.

Check out the video

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PALAK / SPINACH AMBAT

This is a spicy dal palak cooked with coconut masala in a Konkan Style. All the coastal regions of  Konkan, Maharashtra, Goa use a lot coconut in their cooking and there is a lot of similarity in the recipes. They are usually on the spicier side. I have reduced the quantity of chillies here but you may add more if you like. I have also added a little garlic and Kolhapuri Masala to it which is not there in the original recipe.You can also use any other greens in the place of palak.
Recipe Courtesy - Herman Vaz

 Ingredients:
Toor dal ...         1/2 cup
Palak / Spinach ... 1 small bunch
Onion ................ 1 small (chopped)
Garlic ............ 1 tsp
Jaggery .............. 1 tsp
Coconut ............ 1/3 cup grated
Tamarind pulp ... 2 tbsps
Dry red chillies ... 2-3 ( original recipe has 5-6 )
Kolhapuri Masala ... 1 tsp ( check the recipe - HERE )
Salt ....................... to tatse
Oil ............. 1-2  tbsps

Method:
1. Wash and soak toor dal for a couple of hours.
2. Clean and cut the palak coarsely.
3. In a pressure cooker combine dal, palak and onion. Add sufficient water and cook until done ( 3-4 whistles).

4. In a frying pan heat oil and add the broken red chillies. Stir fry them for half a minute and add the coconut, tamarind pulp, salt, garlic and Kolhapuri masala. Mix well and turn off the gas. Grind this to a paste.

5. Stir in the ground masala into the cooked dal. Mix it with a ladle. Check the salt and keep the consistency the way you like it.
Alternately you can even add the tadka of  garlic, onion and Kolhapuri masala in the end instead of mixing it while cooking.

Serve it with plain rice and ghee accompanied with fried papads.

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