Fried Herring Roe

Tareli Bhing ni Gharab or Gaboli in Koli

In this past week the fish monger, no not a Koli but a Muslim from UP came to my door. His eyes shinning. I refused to buy and then he animatedly said Bhing ni gharab che! My husband does not eat gharab nu achaar so I asked him if he was interested in the gharab for a fry. He gave a nod, more than him I was excited about cooking with it.

As a kid I have enjoyed many a Gaboli as we Koli call it. It would be boiled or steamed with salt and turmeric. Then sliced up into roundels. Some times it would be fried after slicing. Mostly eaten as a side in a meal with rice and curry or rice roti. Ofcourse the Gaboli is smeared with salt and Koli masala and left to sit for 30 mins before frying.

The Parsis however don't boil it. They directly apply the usual jeeru lasan paste marinate it in the fridge for 30 mins and then fry it. They divide the gharab into chunks and enjoy it with rotli or pao.

What ever you do if you don't want a crumble like mess of the eggs don't cut open the sac when it is raw. Cook and then cut into roundels or chunks. My friend Sayantani who is a true blue  bengali tells me they infact open the sac and clean the eggs to free from membranes mash it and then make fritters out of it.

If you are from the coastal region gharab or gaboli / fish roe would be a delicacy you would have heard of if not tasted it. Yet for those who do not know, it is the ovaries of the fish. The ovary sac contains densely packed tiny eggs. They resemble grainy semolina or are rather like poppy seeds. This one you see here is of the seawater fish Herring in English or Bhing in Gujarati or Pala in Koli. The fresh water Herring is popular in Bengali and North Eastern cuisine as Hilsa or Ilish. In that region the fish is sliced across along with the egg and enjoyed in a curry or as a fry.

In season while the Parsis enjoy it fried, the Bawis are clever to preserve them as pickle to be enjoyed thru the year. The best time for Gharab is during monsoon and a couple of months after. Then its unavailable for the rest of the year. 

In the pic you see a chiffon saree with a Gara border.

When I had shared a snippet of it on FB my schoolmate Aban Setna educated me about it, "This is French embroidery. It probably looks identical on the reverse side. No one does it anymore. Cherish it!"

"These are Petit Point borders and were embroidered separately and had a backing. The backing is attached to the saree, the front side remains pristine. Ladies would make these in their spare time. The smaller the stitches and knots, the smoother and finer the finish. It is a lost art."

Its priceless for me. My MIL died in 2003. She wouldn't have imagined leaving this behind for me but I feel blessed to have received all her things and I cherish it with all my heart.

Soya Granules Stir Fry and Patti Samosas Two Ways

 

Until 18 yrs of age the one dish I could eat at anytime be it breakfast, lunch or dinner and even as an anytime snack was the Tallele Vale Sode with rice roti. I could eat a whole Chavlachi Roti, which is almost 16 inches in size. Wrapping the morsel of roti around the tallele sode with a little excess oil was absolutely soul satisfying than anything in the world. Then I turned vegetarian. I mostly don't like to make something veg taste like non-veg because I have grown to love my veggies with the exception of mushrooms. The only way I like my mushrooms is mock non-veg.

On this day with the thought of trying to create a veg version of tallele vale sode I chose soya granules as a suitable ingredient. So lets see how I did it and then I'll tell the result of this experiment.

 Ingredients

Patti samosa strips 
(I used 15 from the pack of 25)
1 cup soya granules
4 medium onions chopped
3-4 green chilies chopped
a small bunch cilantro chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon Koli masala
2 teaspoons kokum agal (concentrate)
or 3-4 kokum pieces
salt to taste
sugar to taste
3-4 tablespoons oil

First wash soya granules in copious amounts of water to remove excess starch. Soak them in water, the level of water should be well above the granules allowing it to swell up.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry the onions till they just start browning. Add the turmeric and Koli masala. Add the chopped cilantro. Give a good stir.

Squeeze out excess water from the soaked soya granules and add them to the fried onions. Mix well. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

Now finish off the dish with kokum agal, salt and sugar to taste. Mix well. Cover and let it rest till completely cool.

This soya granule stir fry can be called veg Kheema or Mock Tallele vale sode. This stir fry is quite close in taste to tallele vale sode but the texture of sode cannot be replicated with soya granules. Those who have never eaten sode will love this.

But sode are sode after all, nothing can beat plump sode made into bits and stir fried. The koli masala lends the spice and the kokum married to it makes it lipsmacking good!

After its completely cooled, start making the patti samosas.

Making Patti samosa:

Pull out one strip at a time and make a cone. Fill the cone with the yummy Soya Granules Stir Fry. Seal the open end by folding over the end of the strip and apply a paste of flour to pack it completely before it goes into the hot oil for frying or baking. Make 4 at a time. Do not fill all at once as the pattis dry out.

Frying:

Keep a small kadhai of oil to heat on medium and fry the patti samosas 4 at a time. Drain on a few layers of tissue. Serve warm with ketchup and mint cilantro chutney.

Fried for Dad

Baking:

Preheat oven at 200 deg celcius. Grease a cookie sheet with oil and line up the samosas. Brush them lightly with oil. Bake for 15 mins on one side then turn over and bake the other side for another 15 mins. This will given evenly baked samosas.

We like these patti samosas especially dipped in both ketchup and mint cilantro chutney.

Baked for me

Try these delicious bites and bless me later for sharing this lip-smacking recipe with you.

The Gutless Foodie's Surmai Rawa Fry

This is a guest post.

I have interacted with her over mails just a week or so. She sent me an order and I shipped it to her. I thought I'll check with her if she needs a recipe. Instead immediately after she received the masalas she was on a roll. First came the intro mail, then the experiments and results. Then this one saying she was trying to post to the Words Power Us section on this blog. I have been wanting to invite people to do guest posts and I find one right in my inbox.

The Gutless Foodie is a FB group run by Natasha Diddee. A trained chef, a by product of IHM Mumbai and Sophia Polytechnic. I was sobbing uncontrollably when I read this, "I lost my entire stomach to two bleeding ulcers and a tumour growing around my stomach. But, God is great and our bodies wondrous, it adapts. :)" So you see how her group gets the name. Yet from what little I know of her presenting to you the emoticon and hashtag junky, sunshine girl! 

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My only knowledge of a part of the Koli community came from Sona, our fisher woman. Those were the days, when fisherwomen came to your doorstep, with the fresh catch of the day. They'd ring the doorbell and assure you, that they'd kept the freshest seafood, only for you. They'd sell to you and then promptly ring the next doorbell and tell them the exact same thing! One day, I caught Sona in the act! #NatashaISTheFoodMafia #TGFMafia

She laughed nervously and said she truly sold us the freshest seafood. I sneered, she snorted. She knew she'd lost. #TGFIsFierceInAStaringMatch

We cackled and started chatting, whilst I covered my nose #FisherWomenHaveFierceFishOdour

Whilst we were chatting, she told me why fisher folk were known to have fierce tempers. She said, they eat really spicy food, using a special masala and the temper is the spice's fault!

#ThatLogicallyExplainedWhatLoudAsAFishMarketMeant

Over the years, I have lost count of how many times I've eaten chicken & seafood Koliwada. In my pea-sized brain, Koliwada must be koli style food! But, I realised that Sona had duped me! This food wasn't as spicy as she'd made it out to be! #TGFsBrainMayBeSmallerThanHerGutlessGut

I was at a friend's house recently and tried a fish dish. It was FooFoo type spicy, but very flavourful. His mom told me, that she had used Koli Masala! I refused to believe her because, I had just eaten a stellar fish curry and it was not that horrendous scary red colour, that most things we know as Koliwada style dishes are!!

I was terrified she'd not give me more food if I countered her so, I let the yummies shut my mouth. I promptly forgot, till one day I overheard someone talking about Koli Chicken Curry. My ears perked up. Now, I HAD to get to the bottom of this!!

So, I asked all the Koli foodies I knew and the unanimous verdict, was to use masalas from Annaparabrahma. Anjali runs this masala business and I was excited to know you could buy all kinds of Koli goodies from her! I ordered several masalas and they came yesterday, along with a few small free samples!
#GottaLoveWomenEntrepreneurs

I never, ever recommend a masala I've not tried myself so, I kept it to myself till this post. Last night I had some super fresh Surmai/Kingfish, so I broke into Anjali's Koli Masala.

It was excellent! I suddenly understood what Sona had meant!! The best part, she hadn't duped me. The masala is very robust and super flavourful but also really spicy. But, not in an alarming way. Would I reorder this masala? I'd be losing out if I didn't. Can't wait to try it in curries next! 

Ingredients : 

1. Surmai/Kingfish - 4 pieces, skin on, bone in, 1/2 " thick slices
2. Oil - to shallow fry
3. Garlic paste - 1 tspn
4. Salt - 1/2 tspn
5. Coriander leaves - a small fistful, chopped
6. Anjali's Koli Masala - 1 tbspn
7. Rawa - to coat

Method:

1. Marinate everything together, excluding the oil and rawa. I kept it for about an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. While it's heating, roll the marinated fish into a plate, lined with rawa. Coat each piece properly.
3. Place the fish into the pan and on a high flame, sear each side. Lower the flame, cover and cook till done.
As usual, I squeezed some lime juice on it and dug in.

☆ The rawa coating took away some of the spiciness, but the flavour was incredible

☆I would normally also fry fish without the rawa and then recommend the masala if I liked it, but I would then be depriving you of a yummy

☆I haven't been able to figure out what is different from other FooFoo masalas but there is a distinct flavour, which I haven't identified other than yummy

#IShallCookMoreToLearnMore
#IShallKolifyMyself
#GoodGodPleaseHelpMySenseOfHumour

#TaDaaa Koli Surmai Rawa Fry

#1MinuteEveryDay
#BussEkMinute
#PayItForward
#YouCanDoIt
#YesYouCan
#JustDoIt
#TheGutlessFoodie

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Tell me readers who would not LOVE this overwhelming bundle of energy! She needs our love and blessings for a long healthy life. Say तथास्तु after me!

Dear Natasha, 

Anjali and everyone at AnnaParaBrahma loves you and GOD BLESS you with a fulfilled life. Keep eating, feeding and spreading this warmth! BIG HUG!!

Onion Mushroom Masala and a Focaccia

The recipe is of Onion Mushroom Masala actually. I made a Focaccia with it that's just natural.

This lipsmacking bhaaji is purely addictive. I make this for the non veg loving members of my extended family when they visit. Invariable they have named it as stir fried Kalava che gole or Oysters in onion masala. Taut yet biteable and the koli masala makes it sublime. Whether it is Kalava or Mushroom eitherways its a hit.

Ingredients

1 pack fresh button mushrooms

2 large onions chopped lengthwise.

1 teaspoon Kolimasala.

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

salt to taste.

2 tablespoons oil

Heat a wok with oil in it. Add the onions and the mushrooms. Stir and fry till onions are transluscent. Add the Koli masala, turmeric and salt cover and cook for 5 mins. 

At this point stop cooking to use as topping for Focaccia. 

However if making it as a bhaaji, cook till onions are caramelized and you see the oil leaving the sides of the wok. 

This is a ideal side dish with a rice roti, steamed rice and dal or even to mop up with a soft Mumbai pav.

You can garnish it with chopped cilantro if you wish to add color.

To assemble the Focaccia:

Remove the second  tray of dough from the fridge and leave it come to normal temperature while you preheat the oven at 180 deg celcius.

While the oven gets ready, spread the Onion Mushroom Masala  evenly over the puffy cushion like dough. Press down lightly just to embedded the toppings a bit.

Thrust the tray in the hot oven and bake for 30 mins. Ensure there is no charring of the onions due to hot spots in the oven. Change dirrection if your oven has hotspots.

Remove from oven and serve once cooled enough to slice up about an hour.

This Focaccia tastes awesome both warm or cold. It does not really require a soup to go with it. It is super tasty on its own.

Make it for your guests and win a thumbs up from them between smiling mouthfuls.

Moongachi Bhaaji

This is a delicious very Koli style curry made with whole moong. It difficult to say why it is soul satisfying, the protein or the masala. It is very quick to make as moong gets cooked fast in the pressure cooker.

A Koli home if not well stocked on green veggies will always be stocked with green moong for sure. But I hate it when most relatives cook it up for me just because I do not eat non veg. It's not about not affording to buy vegetables but pure laziness to even look in the bazaar for veggies and they expect me to sing their praises after the force fed meal. Yet I am polite, I always thank them for entertaining me.

However once in a while when I crave for my homely flavors and when I want to make something that will make a lipsmacking meal for Dad without too much effort then I go to this familiar taste.

Here is how to do it...

Ingredients

1 cup whole green moong

1 whole potato with skin on

Soak moong in hot water for 1/2 hr OR if cooking directly use water enough to cover the moong, about 1 inch above the moong level. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or 30 mins. Cool completely and open the cooker. Mash some moong with the back of the spoon. Keep the potato aside.

The masala

1/4 cup grated fresh or frozen coconut
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon koli masala (buy it now)
1/2 inch piece ginger
4 cloves garlic
handful cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 green chili

Grind in fine paste in the chutney grinder. Keep
aside.

The Phodni 

2 teaspoons oil

Heat oil in a vessel. Add the ground masala and fry a bit for about 2 mins. Cut the potato into 4 long wedges and  add along with the cooked whole moong into the masala. Top up with water. Keep a thickish consistency. Boil well to remove the raw smell of masala. Put off heat and let it sit for atleast 15 mins before serving.

Serve with hot steamed rice.

Enjoy mixing it with your fingers and licking up!

In Thal food is mostly cooked at home and then at lunch time packed and taken to the fish drying area and the little account offices that are put up in the huts on these fields, where family slogging it from morning awaits. In the old days it used to be carried in small terracotta pots called handis or brass vessels, then put in a basket and carried on the head. I wanted to recreate that scene so I used large terracotta diyas which I had from the last years Diwali. Then came Diwali and I actually found a small pot much like a handi but still not a handi. I am still looking out for a handi that is used for cooking fish curry.

I also made a teeny bit of Moogache puran just to make Dad happy, for he loves to end all his meals with a little bit of sweet and as long as his health can afford it I will continue to indulge him.

With these pictures I can almost hear one of our Khapnarin (lady staff) calling out "Jevaan hanlay gharshi!" which meant lunch has been brought from home. Then some one would rush to help offload the basket which was carried on the head and put it on stable ground without spillage.

Then every thing would be removed from the basket and the basket would be overturned to cover the pots and a heavy something would be placed over the basket so that no cat or dog attacked the food before the family.

Then one by one everyone would wash their hands as they would be smelly with handling fish. If this was the exact menu, then the men would ask "Koncha upas hai?" LOL you see my Koli people cannot live without fish! and the day there is no fish in the meal it is Upas/ Upvas or fasting for them!

Focaccia and Koli Masala Love Story

 

Pithori Amavasya marks the end of Shravan Maas. It is a no moon day and celebrated as Matrudin or mother's day. It is celebrated as Matrudin as we worship all the Devis or Goddesses on this day.

The name Pithori is derived from the offering made with flour or pith to the Goddesses. Well to celebrate the end of Shravan and my event which began on a non-traditional note, after travelling thru memories of a more traditional Shravan, I post here an offering for my Mother, my Aai. 

I had made this Focaccia as an experiment to use my Koli masala in the most non traditional way. To create a fusion of flavors that will stand out as the mark of this city, Mumbai. What better time than to share it with you on this day when offerings are made to the ancestors, my Koli ancestors who were the first inhabitants of this city. The recipe adheres to the tradition of making something from Pith or flour. My Mom always offered ghaas or food offering to the departed on this day.

Going by how it turned out and that half eaten focaccia is proof enough to get you going into the kitchen to try it out immediately.

Ingredients

For the Koli masala spiced Caramelized onions

4 large onions, halved and slivered

1 teaspoon of Koli Masala ( Don't have it? Order it now!)

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons Olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

In a hot wok add oil, quickly add the slivered onions. Fry until translucent. Add the koli masala and salt, give it a stir. In the end just before putting off the heat add the finely chopped cilantro and give it a mix. Keep aside to cool until dough is ready.

This is a basic recipe for the toppings but you could stretch your imagination to the limit to give it your own veg - non veg twists!

For the dough

500 gms of Maida/ all purpose flour

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup corn meal / makai atta

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes

In a bowl mix the water, sugar and yeast and let it bubble up for 10 mins.

Meanwhile soak the sundried tomatoes in 1/2 cup water.

Now combine the flour and bubbly yeast in a stand mixer using dough hooks. Run the mixer till you get smooth well combined dough. Now add salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the dough and run the mixer for another 5 mins. Cover with wet towel and leave it till the dough is doubled.

Remove the dough on to the counter. Knead for 5 mins. Incorporate the sun dried tomatoes in the dough at this point. Chop up the hydrated tomatoes into small bits. Discard any water remaining after soaking the sundried tomatoes.

Grease and dust the baking pans with oil followed by corn meal. Spread the dough in the pans with your hand like you do for bhakri. Create depressions with your finger in the dough. drizzle the remaining olive oil over it like seen here. Leave it to double up again.

Now after the second proofing. Spread the koli masala spiced caramelized onions on the two focaccias.  Preheat the oven at 180 deg celcius and bake till golden edges are seen. This takes about 40 mins. I baked both the focaccias at the same time in the oven. 

Remove from the baking pans on to the cooling rack. I ate that half as soon as it permitted me to take a bite. These focaccias are not very thick and are quite crisp. Every bite is fiery and a morsel of the sundried tomato delivers the perfect fusion of an Italian bread with a very local Koli masala.

If I say it was gorgeous! I will sound narcissistic, so be it.

Here is the ordering information for my Koli Masala.

Mail to :  annaparabrahma@gmail.com
Mail Subject: Koli masala
Payment can be made to paypal id : hrushikoli@gmail.com

Jardaloo Chhole With Vegetable Pulao And Rose Milk

Jardaloo Chhole With Vegetable Pulao, Nuts from Jardaloo, 

Microwaved Potato Mirgund and Rose Milk

Today, 1st May 2013, was one of the days I did nothing and actually enjoyed doing nothing!

The Nothing is giving me something, Peace of mind!

It is the heat and dust that is causing trouble but harsh summers make the anticipation of the monsoon showers worth the wait! That's life too!

In this unbearable summer time I have been making simple meals and lots of coolers for the afternoons. So far the meals went something like this Chilled Kelyacha Shikaran and Poli, Bean cultlets with salad, Greens stir fry and Phulkas, Tomato Omlette etc. 

Today I felt like making a combo meal complete with dessert. It should get ready in under 30 mins being the criteria. Having started cooking only at 12.30 pm I ensured the hungry Dad got his sharp 12 noon fill of a plate of cut papaya. The papaya was tasteless so gave it a honey bath.  

That done I could focus on preparing the meal. I had cooked and frozen chickpeas that turned out to be of great use today, I pulled them out and set them on the counter to defrost. On the side I was soaking Jardaloo for the things I wanted to do inspired by ET, I also promised her that I will experiment with them in a curry.  

Now the cuisines that I know which use Jardaloo or Apricots in their cooking are the Parsi and Middle Eastern. So I froze on the simple veg pulao which is on the lines of Brown rice that goes with Dhansak. To round off the meal on a sweet note I thought Rose milk fit the theme perfectly.

So presenting to you a Parsi inspired combo-meal.

Jardaloo Chhole

Ingredients

5-7 Jardaloo/ Apricots soaked in hot water for atleast 2 hours.

2 cups cooked Chickpeas/ chhole

 (Incase cooked are not available, soak overnight and pressure cook until completely cooked about 4-5 whistles)

2 medium onions chopped lengthwise

3 tomatoes diced

1 teaspoon Koli masala

1/4 teaspoon red chili powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon jeera

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil

Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Masala paste

2 green chilies

7-8 cloves garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger

1 teaspoon salt

In a mortar and pestle, grind the green chilies, garlic, ginger and salt to a coarse paste.

In a small pressure cooker heat oil. Fry the masala paste till caramelized slightly. Add the chopped onions and fry till transparent and pale pink. Add the tomatoes and the spices, jeera, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, Koli masala and fry on high heat till the tomatoes form a paste. Add the sugar. Now tip in the cooked chhole.

Add the soaked Jardaloo. Remove the stone from the Jardaloo before adding or if you don't mind them while eating you can just remove it at the table. If you have strong teeth crack the stone and eat the nut inside!

Close the lid and allow 3 whistles. Put off heat, allow to cool completely. Open the lid and mash the chickpeas a bit with the back of the spoon against the cooker wall to get a thick gravy.

To serve ladel out the chhole into a bowl, top up with a cooked jardaloo from the gravy and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Vegetable Pulao

(Parsi Brown rice inspired)

This is a very simple pulao and goes well with this curry. I would not recommend it as a pulao for consumption on its own but may be the western palate may still find it good as a stand alone. 

Ingredients

1  cup Basmati rice

6 Fresh beans, I used black eyed beans from the Green Balcony

1/2 cup florets of cauliflower

1/2 green peas

2 onions chopped lengthwise

1 Tej patta

5-6 cloves

10-12 pepercorns

2 cardamoms

3 tablespoons Oil 

1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 30 mins. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the onions with half teaspoon of sugar. They will brown evenly and quicker. Add the vegetables to it  and fry. Add the drained rice and mix to coat the rice well with oil. Cook for 10 mins.

Meanwhile boil 3 cups water with salt.

Pour the boiled water into the rice.

Cook another 15 mins covered. Till all water it absorbed. Fluff the grains of rice.

To serve mould it in a cup and turn it out on the plate. Top with a red cherry.

On the side serve some jardaloo nuts. When you deseed the jardaloo before adding to the curry, keep the seeds aside. Smash these seed open to get the nut, it tastes like almond. No part of Jardaloo is wasted.

Rose Milk

Ingredients

3 tablespoon rose syrup (I used Kalverts) 

400 ml chilled milk

few ice cubes

sugar to taste

Mix everything in a shaker and serve in elegant glasses.

Enjoy this Parsi inspired combo-meal. Put together the plate with a small portion of the vegetable pulao, a bowl of Jardaloo chhole. The curry as well as the pulao has sweet notes from the Jardaloo and the sugar. It makes it a balanced taste. Add the microwaved potato mirgunds for some crunch. Sip on the perfect summer cooler of Rose milk and end your meal on a sweet note.

Life is about living the best way you know inspite of the harsh summers and the heat and dust!

Kache Popaya Chi Chana Dal Ghalun Bhaaji

Raw papaya (Koli: Popaya) and chana dal in green coconut masala.

Traditionally this gets made in two ways, one with chana dal and the other with sode (peeled and dried prawns) but in our home its the veg version ofcourse. It would sound scandalous now if I say it, since I am a  vegetarian for the last 25yrs but this tastes the best with sode. This a very much Koli Style bhaaji, what we call esavana chi bhaaji which means bhaaji with essence of non veg, mostly dried fish.

Yesterday, I visited Thal to see my youngest Mama/ Maternal Uncle who suffered a paralytic stroke. I realized one thing that we are becoming people who show apathy to even the most grim circumstances that affect our life. In the village if a person falls ill, he is immediately considered useless and left to die. It is a lot to do with not having money and no humanity! Fortunately Shankar Mama has people who love him around him and I am praying he recovers well.

In Thal popaya is considered "bhutacha khana". To ward off evil many a times the popaya is waved around the body of a person and then discarded on the seashore faraway from the residents and their commonly used areas. See even the ghosts are fed in our culture!

I was touched by my cousin sisters in Thal. I saw a terracotta handi filled with water lying out in the backyard. I told them I wanted another one like it. Nirmal Tai immediately wanted to give the same handi to me but then explained that it was kept for the birds and animals. In my city home for decades we have stopped doing this. Why?

Few things I can think of is nesting problems, messy window sill. Are these problems so big that we must let our birds and animals die? 

Join me in celebrating World sparrow day on March 20th and add a feeder to your window sill to keep celebrating everyday. 

 

Here is what Mohammed Dilawar is doing for the sparrows.

Last weekend when I stayed over at my friend Gauri's home she shared with me this bouquet of dried paddy she had brought back from Kolkata. It is a symbol of fertility and prosperity in Bengali homes and is hung in the doorway. Yes the doorway was open to birds and animals in the villages but in our modern vertical growth concrete jungle the doorway is mostly a maze thru which humans, themselves hate to make passage. So I chose to hang that bouquet of paddy in my window.

I had taken the day off on Friday, I spent the entire morning watching the sparrows feed on the paddy. It was such a calming experience for my nerves that had been wrecked by some unnecessary burden I had invited. Yeah I am like that some times, 'Kunachya khandya var kunache oze' must have been written for me ;P.

Oh lets get back to the recipe.

Ingredients

1 kg raw papaya/ kacha popaya
1/2 cup chana dal
1 tablespoon oil 
salt to taste

For the masala

1/8 piece of a fresh coconut 
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 green chilies
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Koli masala or garam masala

First grind the masala. Keep aside.

Peel the raw papaya and chop into bits. Wash the chana dal and keep aside Heat oil in a wok. Add the raw papaya and the washed chana dal to it. Top up with water about a litre and cook till chana dal starts crumbling just a bit. Salt it to taste.

Add the ground coconut masala. Add more water to get a nice gravy but not too thin.

Note: If you are using peeled and dried prawns, you need to soak them in water for 30 mins to plump them up. Use them instead of the chana dal.

Enjoy the Kache popaya chi bhaaji with chapati or Chavlachi roti.

 I'll leave you to listen to this beautiful Abhang by Tukaram and sung by Lata Mangeshkar which is what this post is about.

Vala cha Birda

In the last post I did mention that I don't deprive the elders at home of their favorite tastes though I am cooking healthy most times. As if to prove a point, this post has come up you will say. It's not like it but there is one person in the family that has a weakness for Vala cha Birda. This person can go to lenghts, of soaking the val, peeling them alone, yes it is a challenging task! 

Now once peeled, I am happy to make it. A call to Mothi Aai and she tells me cook the onions and Val separately and then add the coconut masala. It creates a perfect texture. Do not grind. I follow instructions to the T and I am rewarded with a recreation of a curry that has many fond moments associated with it from childhood. Sprouted Val is called Birda, hence the name of the curry.

I have mentioned in an earlier post the craze for Birda in my family and how Val Dal saved our life if Birda was not peeled and available at short notice.

But before we go into the recipe let me explain to you the treatment val requires.

Preparation

The three phases of Val:
R to L - dried, soaked n sprouted and the peeled sprouts

1. You got to soak the dried val overnight. I used 1/2 kg Val to get 1 kg peeled sprouts.

2. Then next day remove into a cloth bag, tie up the mouth and hang the bag on a hook in the warm parts of your kitchen. Leave them in the bag for another day and night. In warm climes they should sprout about an inch or two.

3. Remove the sprouts into a container. Pour hot water over it. This will loosen up the skins. Let the sprouts soak for a good 1 hour. Then it is easy to peel the skins. Here is when the entire family should team up. Make it a rule, they will get a share only if they help peel the sprouts ;) I know I sound like a dictator but I hate this part.

Keep aside the peeled Val.

The Ground Masala

Like you see here. Grind together to smoothness.

1/2 coconut

handful of cilantro

4 cloves garlic

1 inch of ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon Koli Masala (1/2t garam masala+1/2t red chili powder)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 green chili

Other Ingredients

1kg of  peeled Val sprouts

2 medium potatoes

2 large Onions chopped

1 tablespoon oil

Method

1. Heat a handi or a copper bottom deep vessel. 

2. Pour oil. 

3. Fry the onions till shinny n cooked.

4. Add the val and quartered potatoes. Mix well to coat with onions and oil.

5. Pour 2 glasses water. Cook till potato is powdery and about to crumble. Val takes time to cook and watching the potato cook is the best way to ensure that Val is cooked. 

Beware that Val when not cooked properly is difficult to digest and may cause increased flatulence. 

6. Once the Val is cooked well. Add the ground masala and cook on sim for a good 15-20 mins. 

Cover and keep for 15 mins before you serve. This curry like all Koli curries taste better the next day, if preserved in the fridge.

On this day I went the extra mile and served this Thali of Vala cha Birda, Rice, Ghari,  Sheera, Masoor Kairi Dal,  Lime n ginger pickle and Kairi chi Chutney 

This is a recipe that's spicy by my standards. Yet some people in the family would have preferred it to be more fiery. What made my day is the happiness on my father's face was priceless!

Other blogger's who have made Birda or Dalimbi usal

Chakali

Nupur