coconut - Travels for Taste

Hoppers, SOHO – a review

August 18, 2016 by manjirichitnis 13 Comments

To anyone familiar with Sri Lankan cuisine, appams are no stranger. Re-christened as Hoppers in the colonial times, these light dosa like crepe’s also come in a fluffy stringy avatar much like idli in a ‘ramen burger’ form, are traditionally known as ‘idiyappam’ To try the Hoppers and more, served at the much talked about restaurant in SOHO, by the same name, I decided it was finally time to brave the queue’s. Accompanied by Asma, we managed to get there just in time before the crazy lunch hour rush started. We wanted to have a catch up and conversation always flows better when the ambience is right and the food is good.

Hoppers, SOHO, is another successful venture, conceptualised by the Sethi siblings, who are the minds behind Trishna, Gymkhana, Lyles’s, Bubbledogs and Bao.

While queuing up, I took a peek inside – the wicker thatched roof, wooden furniture, intricately patterned tiles on the floor and tables, yellow lighting – everything reminded me of an old Gymkhana back in India, oozing old world charm and character. Once seated inside you will notice the brightly painted Kathakali masks on a sunny yellow wall facing the bar.

The menu features what is known as short eats – basically, smaller portions like the ones served as snacks from road side food shanties. Similar to the greasy but very satisfyingly delicious spicy fried dal fritters served wrapped in newspaper cones or placed on pages torn out of old note-books and dolloped with scoops of spicy green coconut chutney.

My lunch companion Asma ( she who runs the fab Darjeeling Express) and I decided on hot buttered devilled prawns, bone marrow varuval and brinjal moju.

The rich, smooth and deliciously spiced gravy in which the bone marrow is served is finger licking good. The generously scattered fresh green curry leaves add that curry flavour to the sauce – we mopped it up with the string hoppers later. One bite into that luscious bone marrow and there is no turning back. In contrast, the prawns are fiery hot and smothered in butter, though not scathing, they are not for the faint-hearted. Asma’s Bengali palate approves of the succulent prawns so I would say give it a go – just have the cooling masala buttermilk at hand to wash down all the spice and grease.

Mains at Hoppers, SOHO

Onto the mains we picked the egg hoppers with fish kari and lamb kari. The Hoppers come with pol sambol, seeni sambol and a coriander chutney.

Pol sambol is delightful relish made with Maldive fish and coconut. I am a great fan of seafood in general and love pickled seafood a lot. The seeni sambol is a Sri Lankan version of caramelised onion chutney. Together these little sides provide a fun adventure for your taste buds as you dip your cripsy hoppers into the kari and mop up the sauces.

The crispy edges of the hopper and the fluffy centre are both satisfying and filling and the fried egg in the center for me was just perfect. Dip the crunchy edges of the hopper or dunk large chunks of string hoppers into the oozing egg yolk and then scoop up some of the lamb kari – you won’t regret it.

I love how the hopper is both like a crispy plain dosa and fluffy like a steamed idli and filling like a neer dosa all in one. The egg on top just makes it so much better.

We also tried the Lamb kothu roti and although the lamb is hidden under a majority of veggies and roti it is quite a good dish as a filler. I am not a fan of kothu though, so I won’t miss it too much next time around and would really like to see more lamb in the dish.

The masala dosa comes with a very homely sambar and a fabulous sweet potato curry, I only wish there was more of that curry as it is simply amazing. The crisp dosa has a spicy dry chutney called podi scattered inside and a generous amount of perfectly done potato sabzi inside – you cannot fault this dish in any way which.

The Brinjal moju side is very tangy and the strong taste of vinegar is balanced by the spices used with the aubergine. Again this is something I could not get enough of.

The string hoppers come with pol sambol and Kiri hodi which is aSri Lankan coconut milk gravy with Maldive fish and fenugreek. I have mixed feelings about the Kiri hodi but they seem to be leaning towards love rather than hate. Perhaps more trips to Hoppers are required for me to make up my mind. Asma and me hungrily wiped down the remaining sauce from the bone marrow varuval with the string hopper – oh that sauce!

I would have loved to try the duck heart chukka and durian flavoured ice cream and then probably wash it all down with some string Tamil Nadu Kaapi. Unfortunately, there was no way I couldn’t eat anymore and had to take away a lot of the food. And the head Chef Suresh Pillai spoilt us by sending us generous portions of dishes to sample, that in addition to what we had ordered was more than we could possibly consume.

Over the past few years, AK and I have been to many Sri-Lankan restaurants around London. As expected they are to be found in the suburbs, notably in Tooting and East Ham. Our all – time favourite has got to Jaffna House – a no-fuss cheap and cheerful place where you can eat till you are ready to explode at the seams but still not draw up a bill of more than £20. So to be standing in a queue in SOHO for Sri-Lankan food was not something I was expecting. But am so glad I did and that too with a fab companion like Asma. For once, I didn’t have to apologise for taking photos from all possible weird angels with not just my camera but my phone too – of course – for all those social media channels that need feeding 😉

One of the many reasons that puts Hoppers in a class by itself in comparison to the other Sri Lankan restaurants is the entire ambience that they have so thoughtfully managed to create – the wood panelled interiors, framed posters, the gorgeous rustic hammered copper plates, those tiled tables, the efficient service and of course the food!

I most certainly plan to be back, to brave that queue, this time with hubs AK in tow, and no there won’t be any camera in sight. Just us and – the food.

Average bill person with one starer and one side to share, one main and one non-alcholic drink – £25 approx (without alcholol and dessert)

Don’t miss out on – Bone Marrow Varuval, Crab Kari on the specials menu if available – it is absolutely divine!

Disclaimer: Unless mentioned that I was invited to review, I foot my own bill when eating out and have written this review purely out of a passion of sharing my love of good food. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Thanks to Chef Suresh Pillai for treating Asma and me to some complimentary dishes.

Lunch at Le Porte des Indes, Marylebone, London – Review (Permanently closed)

May 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 7 Comments

Influence of the British Raj on India,its culture and their indelible influence on the railways , architecture and the many places of tourist interest is common knowledge but India was also ruled by Mughals,the Portuguese,the French and the Dutch. Each of these colonies bear distinct stamps of a deep-rooted influence especially on the food with some beautiful foods that have become a part of the local community and recipes developed by such confluence of are not only brilliant in taste but also a mixture of flavours that otherwise would not have been combined.

I had heard so much about Le Porte des Indes and Chef Mehernosh Mody who has been awarded Ethnic Chef of the Year 2012 at the Craft Guilds of Chefs Awards for people who pay attention to things like that. So when Fiona who blogs at London Unattached asked me to accompany her for a lunch at Le Porte des Indes it was an offer too tempting to pass up!

Le Porte des Indes literally means Gateway to India. The decor is warm and welcoming and I felt was in some old, Indian palace with intricate wood carvings, huge artefacts, paintings especially replicas of Raja Ravi Verma’s magnificent originals and stone statutes which reminded of the ones at Khajuraho. Indoor plants are similar to ones I would see probably at The Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India lots of wooden statues of Lord Ganesha too.

We started by ordering some drinks I ordered for a Tamarind Martini while Fiona ordered some white wine.My gin,tamarind and limoncello martini came adorned with a slice of Star Fruit on the side .The sight of the star fruit took me back to my college days when my friends and me , about ten of us would get off the train and trade the crowded bus journey on way back from school and walk home instead on the dusty footpath – our treat for walking, a tangy snack packed in an old newspaper sold by a haath – gaadi or hand cart street food vendor which included roasted peanuts in shells, tamarind -imli and star fruit slices sprinkled with chilli powder and topped with a squeeze of lime – very ,very tangy but totally fun. On a good day when we had some extra change between us we would follow this up with a fizzy drink from a small shanty opposite the gates of the IIT,Mumbai campus mummm – simple pleasures. Seems so far away now and I only ever see my friends on Facebook and comment on old scanned photographs 🙂

I fell in love with the beautiful cutlery and the copper plate sighh…

Our starter was Demoiselles de Pondiche’ry – seared king scallops with a hint of garlic in a delicious saffron sauce – succulent and morish…

The cuisine is a mix of French,Tamil and Creole influences and lots of fusion recipes using the chefs imagination.

Next up was a platter of starters with kebabs and a fish called ”Patra ni Machi” or Parsee fish (Patra – leaf , Macchi – fish) this divine fish was made using fillets of sole encased in a mint and coriander chutney steamed in a banana leaf.I remember eating this fish at a Parsee friends wedding feat in Bombay 5 years ago and it had green chillies in a generous amount in the green chutney.There was a mild hint of chilli in our fish ,just perfect, excellent in fact and I could have made more,no wonder this is Chef Mehernosh Mody’s speciality. The other starters on our platter were Kathi kebabs – spiced lamb kebabs rolled in an egg served with a dark fruity chutney. Murgh Malai Kebabs – tandoori grilled chicken tikkas marinated in a creamy cheese sauce with spices.A twist on the usual onion and potato pakoras we ate Chard Pakoras – red and green chard rolled in gram flour, green chillies,coriander, turmeric and caraway seeds and fried crisp – very tasty!All this served with Garlic and Coriander Naan.

In the picture about L-R :Murgh Malai Kebabs,Parsee fish,Chard Pakoras and in the middle Kathi kebabs.Peaking on the right side corner is a rice cracker with a roughly ground green chilli chutney with a cooling yoghurt and saffron dip.

In the picture above is the Pomegranate Raita -Natural yoghurt with pomegranate, a touch of cumin and paprika.We then ate this most perfectly cooked white fish in a rich tamarind sauce steamed in a banana leaf – pure pleasure.

For our mains we got a large assortment of dishes served Basmati Saffron Pillav Rice, Seed Naan and Red Rice– Steamed organic red rice.

L -R in the photo of our mains platter below:

Tandoori Barra Chops: British Lamb Chops Char-grilled with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves finished with caramelised onions -everything you expect from a tandoori lamb really – smoky,soft,packed with flavour and juicy ,falling off the bone.Prawn Assadh curry as it is made in Pondicherry with turmeric,ginger, green chillies,coconut, mustard seeds and green mangoes – so creamy and delicious we couldn’t get enough of it scooping it off our plate with our naan stuffed with spiced lamb.Poulet Rouge, spécialité de notre maison is a gallic inspired dish – Chicken Slices marinated in yoghurt and red spices, grilled and served in a creamy sauce. Rougail d’ Aubergine: Smoked aubergine crushed with red chilli, ginger and green lime also called Baingan ka bharta in Hindi.I was most delighted to find we had a portion of mutton – it is not easy to get goat’s meat locally and this Mutton Braised home style as in Pondicherry with robust spices and laced with coconut milk was a delicious curry with the mutton having soaked up all the flavours of the spices .With the Saffron rice it was very good.Chef Mehernosh Mody also let us in who his regular suppliers who he told us are all local British producers.

We also had a selection of chutneys to go with the naan.Though I was stuffed I was hoping I could manage to have some dessert. After all a grand meal like this is not complete without some Indian sweets!;)

Fiona had to leave in a hurry and only managed to taste some the many treats on our mixed dessert platters.

L-R : Frozen dessert – Rose flavoured kulfi -the indian home-made ice cream with no artificial flavourings or stabilizers, made using Jersey & Guernsey Milk with pistachios ,followed by a mini chocolate filled samosa – thin pastry stuffed with chocolate and deep-fried ,Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse(55% Cocoa Solids) served in traditional leaf cup – in India its is common practice to serve desserts in a dried leaf folded into the shape of a cup especially at large public gatherings like the Sarvjanik Ganpati Festival and during Navratris – these are bio-degradable and much better option over plastic or foam cups, a fruit tart and a slice of mango carved artistically.

Chef Mehernosh Mody then took me on a tour of the premises .There is so much room for big parties in the Maharajah room which is very tastefully done up antique Indian artifacts, the Shamiana perfect for weddings and a lovely,a fully private big dining room with French colonial decor for corporate lunches too.If that is not enough there’s a Jungle Bar complete with cane furniture ,palm trees and tiger skin rugs so while you sip on a tropical signature cocktail called Karma which has – oh yes coconut juice and vodka, you can pretend your on the beautiful shores of Pondicherry ne Puducherry with pristine beaches of blue water and warm silky sand and are about to set off for a hunting expedition in a while with your buddies! Did you know that Puducherry meaning New Town is also referred to as ”The French Riviera of the East”?

That’s not the talented Chef Mody also conducts live cooking classes in the restaurant where the chef and his team unravel the mysteries of Indian cooking , explain the intricacies of the spices and how to cook a great Indian Meal – fab idea for team building exercise I say where you actually eat the fruits of your labour!

The Beautiful dome of the former Edwardian ballroom this adds to the grandeur of the place.

One of the private dining rooms, notice the beautiful statues at the back? 🙂

At the Jungle Bar it was common practise for patrons to throw peanut shells across the floor and then walk all over them on crunching shells!Fun I say.

For the images of the dome, the private dinning room and Jungle bar – Image Courtesy -Le Porte des Indes

Disclaimer: With many thanks to Chef Mehernosh Mody, the attentive team at Le Porte des Indes and Fiona. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Egg Curry/Anda Curry/अण्डा कारी from my college days

October 13, 2013 by manjirichitnis 2 Comments

Egg curry and soft paav or square buns are the most common hostel food that one can make with a saucepan, some eggs and a few basic ingredients. It is hugely popular as a filling, tasty curry and there are as many variations as the imagination, one’s budget and availability of ingredients on a particular day will allow 🙂

This version is what I always make and is sort of derivative of what would be made in the North of India. I sometimes like to make it into a coastal flavoured one by adding freshly grated coconut but that’s only if I want to make it posh but that’s very, very rare. After all, this is a quick, save the evening sort of curry!

It’s National Curry Week and it’s wonderful to see how Britain has embraced an Indian food habit and made it, its own over the years, spinning off British Indian versions of popular Indian home-cooked curries.

I wanted to start off my posts for National Curry Week, with this one because of how easy it is to make and a great recipe for students everywhere 🙂

Serves:2

Total Preparation Time:20 Minutes

Ingredients:

4 eggs and use the same proportion of 2 eggs per person to scale up (for very hungry fells the more the merrier 😉
2 medium-sized red onion finely chopped
2 medium-sized tomatoes
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric
1 heaped tsp garam masala
1 heaped tsp cumin powder
1 heaped tsp coriander powder
2 green chillies
1 tsp ginger paste
fresh coriander to garnish
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste
2 tbsp olive oil – it’s easier on my conscience , use any oil or butter or ghee in dire straits!

Method:

Boil the eggs in an open saucepan and leave aside to cool
Roast the chopped red onion on a saucepan and spritz it in the mixer with the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. (If you want a coastal touch add 2 tbsp of freshly grated coconut in this mixture and puree it together, ensure to use at least 3 finely chopped garlic in the pan as they set off the taste of fresh coconut beautifully)
In a saucepan heat the oil and add a pinch of asafoetida, then add the chopped garlic and roast till it’s a light brown, then add the ginger paste, turmeric, red chilli powder,garam masala, coriander and cumin powders.
Stir in the onion and tomato puree.
Cook on a low flame for 2 minutes.
Then add some water to make a gravy-like consistency and ad the boiled, peeled eggs after cutting them in half, add salt and cook for a further 5 – 6 minutes.
Serve with hot chapatis/naan bread,paav, soft fresh wholemeal bread or with steaming hot boiled white rice – to make the rice taste heavenly drop a blob of butter, the steam trapped in the grains of rice will melt the butter into a golden pool of gooey goodness – pour the egg curry into this and enjoy the best and simple pleasures of curry!

Looking for a Curry Recipe? You might also like:

While we are talking things curry, do also check out this interesting Mapo Tofu curry from one of my favourite blogs 🙂

C.K.P Valache Birdhe (वालाचे बिरडे) – Field bean curry

September 22, 2013 by manjirichitnis 19 Comments

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry – a Regional delicacy from the state of Maharashtra, West coast of India

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, is an extremely popular bean gravy and has helped soothe many aching hearts and settle ruffled feathers after long gruelling work days.I managed to procure a few packets of these beautiful field beans with brown skin after a lot of searching!Hubs goes completely mental at the mere mention of this dish and insisted on me uploading the recipe and help all the other hungry hubbies out there..ahem ..so without further ado ladies and gents I present to you yummyscrummy recipe.

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

वालाचे बिरडे

ThisValache Birdhe or field beans curry recipe is a typical C.K.P way of making a rather traditional legume curry. Vaal or kadve vaal (kadve meaning bitter in Marathi) are generically referred to as Field Beans in English.

Traditional regional cuisine and a beautiful heirloom C.K.P recipe

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Manjiri Chitnis

Hieloom recipe from the CKP community from the western coast of Maharashtra, India

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Prep Time 2 d

Cook Time 20 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 2 people

Equipment

Pan to cook the curry
Blender to make a paste from the garted coconut
Kitchen cloth to tie up beans for sporuting

Ingredients

1.5 Cup Vaal/ Field Beans – soaked, sprouted and skin removed – takes a few days
3 -4 Cloves Lasun/Garlic with skin
1 pinch Hing/Asafoetida
1 Kanda/Red onion – one small finely chopped for the pan
2 -3 tsp Dried Kokum 2 pieces or Tamarind (Chinch/ Imli) -tamarind paste OR dried tamarind soaked in water -remove the pips and use the gooey thick bits
1/2 tsp Jaggery
1 tiny pinch Mohri/Mustard Seeds
1 Pinch Cumin/Jeera
1.5 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Laal Mirchi / Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Halad / Turmeric powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Jeere/Cumin powder
1/2 fistful Fresh Coriander finely chopped to garnish
3 – 4 tbsp Grated coconut paste * see notes
Salt as per taste

Instructions

Soak the Vaal overnight, change the water in the morning and by evening if they appear puffed then wrap them in a damp cloth and set aside in a vessel with a lid to create an environment warm enough to allow them to sprout
Remove sprouted vaal into a bowl and pour like warm water on them, stir with your palms to loosen the skin and many will float to the top, decant the water and remove all the rest of the skins and discard
Heat the oil in a saucepan and dust some asafoetida and throw in the mustard and cumin.
When the cumin seeds begin to pop, throw in the garlic with their skin on and smashed to flatten them and as they turn colour and release their aroma, add the chopped onion.
When the onion turns a delicate pink add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and then add the vaal/field beans.
Now add the turmeric, red chilli, coriander and cumin powders and quickly stir in enough water to cover the beans
On a low flame cook with lid
When the vaal is almost done, add the jiggery, coconut paste and the tamarind paste or the water from the dried tamarind which has been soaked or dried kokum soaked in water and when the vaal are done add salt and garnish with finely chopped coriander.
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is best enjoyed with steaming hot rice

Keyword Vaal

Vaalache Birdhe with text resized — Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Food pairing

This Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is a delicacy pairs best with a portion of pressure-cooked rice of the Ambemohar variety, Basmati will do too. Always remember, a generous dollop of home-made sajuk tup or pure ghee is a must.

Stages of Vaal sprouting in photos

Notes:

Grated coconut paste: made by running fresh grated coconut or frozen grated coconut through a mixer/blender. Add 1 green chilli and 1 clove of garlic. My Aai (mum in Marathi) also prefers to also add 1/2 a finely chopped red onion which has been tossed on a pan with the coconut and green chilli – must admit it lends a toasty warmth to the gravy but I skip this step simply because the I compensate for it by using the onion in the pan!
Making Chinche cha kool ( usually, a block of tamarind is available packaged in any well-stocked Indian grocery store here in London, if not major spice brands now do tamarind paste in a bottle, find these online or any leading supermarket) – remove some in a bowl – add lukewarm water and gently ease the flesh of the tamarind loose from the seed. Use this thick mix to add to the curry. If you have fussy eater then maybe you want to strain this before adding into the curry. I would avoid straining as the gara – the thick flesh of the tamarind – is flavour packed so embrace it – fibres and all. 🙂

I do know this process for cooking Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, sounds rather labor-intensive and complex but believe you me, its easy-peasy, and the main bit of hard work is only getting rid of the field bean skins.

Do leave me a comment of you make this dish and also any variations to the recipe that you may have heard of, any anecdotes, happy memories are always welcome. And if you do cook to my recipe do snap a picture of your creations and use the hashtag #travelsfortasteblogrecipe and share it to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and I will re-post it.

Bon Appe’tit !

P.S: coming soon a Valachi Khichadi ( Field Beans Pulav) recipe that’s another firm family fav!

Learn how to cook western coastal Indian cuisine from the C.K.P community with my easy to follow recipes.

Find below a list of Indian recipes on my blog, some traditional, some fusion, and many regional favourites!

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry

January 23, 2012 by manjirichitnis 10 Comments

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry – Recipe adaptation from Mother, Mother in Law and a close CKP friend – Saai who loves to stir up some spicy CKP fare and generally succeeds at it 🙂

Ingredients:

2 measures of Masoor Dal (Red Lentil) with their brown covers intact and whole
Mustard Seeds
2-3 Garlic Cloves
Green chillies 2- 3
Curry leaves about 5-6
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) – tiny spoonful
Freshly grated soft white coconut
Goda Masala – mommy made is so much better than the one from the shops but well

(**This is a mix of various spices readily available in Asian Grocery stores it’s basically a mixture of dry coconut roasted with a mixture of at least 10 different spices, best of all it’s available to buy online at Red Rickshaw – previously called itadka.com

Refrigerate this pack to increase shelf life ,yayay so many tips from me, don’t YOU just LOVE me , if u better don’t just READ this make n slurp it all ALONE, drop me A LINE and thank meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)

Coriander Powder
Ginger Garlic Paste

(Coriander and Chilli paste – 2 small sized bunches of coriander pureed with 2-3 green chillies – freeze and use on demand, handy and 1 of my 5 “save your face” purees for unwanted guests popping in at odd hours – the other 4 are listed at the end of this recipe)

3 medium sized onion red – chopped fine
Asafoetida(Hing or Heeng)
Turmeric
Red Chilli Powder
Dhania Powder
Jaggery

Aamsul 2-3 soaked in lukewarm water to release it’s juices trapped inside the gorgeous maroon folds – Amsul – also called kokum or Garcinia indica, a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae)

Fresh leaves of Coriander chopped fine for dressing

Process ( Once a Chemistry student and a retail employee stay that way forever , instead of “PREPARTION” I choose the word ”Process” which is drilled into a Retail Managers brain like young parents making their kids rote learn alphabets)

The masoor dal can be done 2 ways for stage 1 of this process, 1^st is the short cut which I love as I suddenly get an urge mid evening to cook this typical CKP recipe to appease my urges to run to Heathrow n take the next flight to my parents home in Pune ,hummmmm, so we soak the masoor dal 2 measures feeds 2 adults with a ravenous appetite and leaves some to spare.

Then soak it in water for about 20 minutes , the traditional route is to soak the masoor for about 10 minutes and pressure cook with 1 or 2 whistles so that it doesn’t go too soft as it will not absorb the marvellous flavours of all the spices we are to add in the kadhai.

Heat 2 large generous tablespoons of oil in a wok, no weight watchers tip this huh? Indeed!

Add mustard seeds and wait for them to pop but please be carefull not to burn them, one classic error here is that there are 2 types of mustard seeds, one variety is slightly big and the other one is smaller n more packed with flavour according to my mother , I dare not disagree , the only reason I use the smaller variety is that it gives me an ego boost each time I do a phodni and don’t burn them.

Then add Asafoetida, crushed garlic cloves in their skin as the skin turns a tasty caramelised brown adding to the visual delight of the process of tempering a curry or dal! then when the garlic is starting to brown add the curry leaves , green chillies , jeera and then a generous spoonful of the fresh grated coconut (fresh from froizen is fine by me too) then , stir in the goda masala – 2 generous teaspoons, coriander powder ,turmeric , a big blob of ginger garlic paste and coriander chilli paste and stir this wonderfully aromatic mixture till it starts to brown , then add the chopped onion and stir it now n then , let the oil work its magic in the onion allowing it to brown so that it secrets it juices and adds the typical flavour that a powerfull pungent red onion has pack3ed inside each leaf ,umm , mouth salivating isn’t it by now reading this , it should that’s the whole point my friend .

Now when this mixture is nice and ready, drain the water from the soaked or boiled par-masoor dal and toss it into the kadhai, stir in enough water to cover the lentil n then some and cook it till it almost done, when your almost done pour in the water of the soaked amsool and the dunk the amsool in along with salt to taste and bring to boil.

Season with finely chopped fresh as ever coriander and serve piping hot with phulkas dripping with ghee (clarified butter) or the plain old boiled white rice.

As you lick your fingers n the plate don’t forget to thank your daddy for giving you an internet connection which allowed you to see my divine blog n stir up this delightfull dish !aww come on now did u really buy your laptop and your internet connection on your own ! Atta girl!

Key (reminds me of my Chemistry textbook in school years)

*C.K.P stands for Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu a sub section of the Maharashtrian community in India and they generally hail from the coastal regions and hence are rather partial to freshly grated coconut and amsool in their food, not to mention their love for fresh fish and mutton, oh yeah!

*Dal used loosely to refer to the uncooked Lentil and AMTI a Marathi word meaning cooked curry.

*Coriander = Cilantro

*Jeera – Cumin (what were you thinking?)

*Aamsul / Garcinia Indica – this is typical to the Konkan region in Maharashtra

*Phodni – Marathi for tempering

*Kadhai – Hindi and Marathi for Wok, easy or what?!

*Phulkas – Also called chapattis or the delightful Indian Bread soft and fluffy and fresh off the pan has ghee smeared on it to pack some punch a many many calories 🙂

The other 4 SAVE ME NOW pastes are:

* a garlic ginger coarse paste,

* Finely grated fresh white coconut paste,

* Tomato red onion puree -1:3,

*And the best one for last aye? – few onion chopped lengthwise n lightly roasted in a kadhai (wok) with fresh white coconut finely grated till they turn slightly brown , then churned into a paste in the mixer )

Pic 1 :The saucepan contains oil heated and then the asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, then the garlic , chopped green chillies and curry leaves and last but the best one GODA masala

Pic 2 :Chopped red onion added to the mix

Pic 3: That’s the dal cooking

Pic 4 & 5: All done , the AROMA is filling my senses and transporting me into my MIL’s kitchen , I want to HUG her nowwwwwwwwwww

P.S: Will post pictures to compare the 2 sizes of Mustard seeds at a later date , I am now going to be too busy slurping my amti (dal) off the plate 🙂

Hoppers, SOHO – a review

Mains at Hoppers, SOHO

Average bill person with one starer and one side to share, one main and one non-alcholic drink – £25 approx (without alcholol and dessert)

Lunch at Le Porte des Indes, Marylebone, London – Review (Permanently closed)

Egg Curry/Anda Curry/अण्डा कारी from my college days

C.K.P Valache Birdhe (वालाचे बिरडे) – Field bean curry

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry – a Regional delicacy from the state of Maharashtra, West coast of India

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

वालाचे बिरडे

Traditional regional cuisine and a beautiful heirloom C.K.P recipe

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Food pairing

Stages of Vaal sprouting in photos

Notes:

Learn how to cook western coastal Indian cuisine from the C.K.P community with my easy to follow recipes.

Find below a list of Indian recipes on my blog, some traditional, some fusion, and many regional favourites!

Masoorachi Aamti or Red Lentil Curry

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