chutney pitto is a must in all konkani households. It can be used like a pickle along with food, with idly-dosas, with bread and ofcourse comes in very handy when you dont have the time/patience to grind chutney. I know about 4 varities of chutney piTTo that my mother makes and the one which I have written here about is the most common one and my favourite. So here goes.

Ingredients

• 1 coconut – finely grated
• Hurigadale (putani, dalia split) – 100 gm (about 2 cups)
• Red chillies – a big handful
• Tamarind – the size of a small lemon
• Curry leaves – one cup
• Asafoetida – to taste
• Salt to taste

Method

• Use a thick bottomed pan for this purpose.
• On a low flame, roast the grated coconut till it starts turning golden brown. Now transfer this to a separate plate.
• Similarly roast the other ingredients till it gives out a nice aroma (for about 10 mins).
• Let all the ingredients cool. Now grind to a smooth powder.
• Add salt to taste and store in an air-tight container.

The proportion of the ingredients can be varied according to individual taste. I prefer more curry leaves and more asafoetida.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Tomato saaru

Tomato Saaru

Ingredients

• Juicy Tomatoes – 2
• Green Chillies – 3 to 4
• Garlic – 10 to 12 cloves
• Oil
• Salt to taste

Method

• Cut tomatoes into small pieces and set aside.
• Heat some oil in a pan. To this add the garlic (crushed) and saute till it starts turning light brown.
• Now add the tomatoes, green chillies slit into two and salt to taste.
• Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a small flame till the tomato is cooked. (for about 4 mins)
• Now add about 3 cups of water and bring to a boil ( add more water if the tomatoes are big) and the saaru is ready.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

vaaLi bhajji bendhi

greens curry

vaaLi is a kind of greens that is very common among Konkanis.
It is called ‘basaLe soppu’ in Kannada. I am not sure about the English name. It tastes like spinach. However, this dish can be prepared with any greens.

Ingredients

• vaaLi – a bunchful (about 3 cups after cutting)
• Grated coconut – 1 cup
• Tamarind – apinch
• Red chillies – 6 to 7
• Garlic – about 7-8 cloves
• Salt – To taste
• oil

Method

• Wash the bhajji thoroughly. Separate the stems from the leaves
• Cut the leaves into small pieces and cut the stem into pieces of size about 1 inch.
• Cook the greens in a little water with some salt.
• Fry the red chillies with a little oil.
• Grind the coconut, chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste. Do not add a lot of water as it tastes good if the gravy is thicker.
• Add this to the cooked greens, add salt to taste and bring to a boil.
• Crush the garlic and fry with little oil till it starts turning slightly brown.
• Add it to the curry and close the lid immediately to retain the flavour of garlic.

Tips:ss

batata song

posted: 11.11. 2006, 16:36

potato sidedish

. As far as I know there is no special meaning to the name in konkani.

Ingredients

• Potatoes – 4
• Onions – 2
• Chilli powder – 2 teaspoons
• Tamarind – size of a small lemon.
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method

• Boil the potatoes, peel the skin, mash and set aside.
• Soak the tamarind in a little water or you can use tamarind extract.
• In a kadai, take a little oil and fry the onions till golden brown.
• Add about 2.5 to 3 teaspoons of chilli powder (the more the better… ofcourse depends on individual taste) , tamarind and salt. Fry for a few minutes.
• Now add the mashed potatoes, add some water and cook till it reaches a medium consistency.

Make sure to add more tamarind, more chilli and ofcourse a little more salt to get the desired hot and sour taste. Serve with toasted bread, chapatis or as a sidedish with rice.

Preparation time: 10 minutess

surnoLi

posted: 21.06. 2006, 11:05

sweet dosa

Everybody especially the kids love this dosa because it is sweet and something different from the ordinary.

Ingredients

( Serves 4-5 people)

• Rice – 4 cups
• Grated coconut– 1 cup
• Parched Rice (poha) – half cup
• Grated Jaggery – half cup
• Fenugreek seeds (methi) – 2 teaspoons
• Cucumber – 1
• Turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• Cardamom

Method

• Soak the rice and the fenugreek seeds in a container with just enough water to cover for an hour.
• In a separate bowl, soak the parched rice for 15 minutes (with very little water)
• Peel the cucumber and cut into small pieces.
• Now grind together the rice, parched rice and cucumber pieces. Do not add water (the cucumber juice should suffice). The batter should be roughly as thick as idly batter.
• To this batter, add jaggery, a pinch of turmeric, cardmom powder and salt to taste.
• Leave the batter overnight. Do not refrigerate.
• In the morning, prepare thick dosas (do not spread). The dosas will turn out very fluffy. Serve hot with ghee or butter.

Tips

• Puffed rice can be used instead of parched rice.
• If cucumber is not available, use more coconut.

vipul