Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Khatkhaten - Vegetables in a coconut base (Konkani style)

Making this is easier than trying to say the name of it !
You pronounce this as 'khat-khat-ein', where the 'ein' needs to be said with a real nasal twang, which we Konkanis are famous for !!
My dad's very close friend's family lives in Goa - they are like an extended family to us. On one of my visits, I happened to go to their place for a self-invited lunch on Monday. The lady of the house was so upset because Mondays are 'Shivraak', its the vegetarian day of the week and she could not make her famous prawn pulav or fish ambotik for me. My son was about a year old and I told her I wanted just simple home-cooked food.

khatkhatein

There was Solkadi, dal, rice, chapatis and this khatkhaten - it was a lovely meal, though I was invited the next day again for the fishy spead !!
My son loved the khatkhaten, and its so packed with veggies, that I have started making it very often after that...

Khatkhaten (Mixed Vegetables in a coconut masala)

What you need -

2 cups cubed red pumpkin
1 cups cubed potatoes
1/2 cup beans
1 cup cut carrot
6 triphals / sichuan pepper
10 garlic cloves
1/2 cup grated coconut
3 red chillies
1 tsp coriander seeds
small ball of tamarind
2 tbsp grated jaggery
salt to taste

What you do with it -

Steam the pumpkin, potaotes, beans and carrots
You could do this in a cooker, but keep it for just 1 whistle, or it could get overcooked
Add salt and jaggery to the steamed vegetables
Grind together the coconut, red chillies, 3-4 pods of garlic, coriander seeds and tamarind to make a smooth paste
Add the ground masala to the vegetables
Crush the teppals lightly in a spoon of water and add (Dont grind the teppals - they are too strong in taste)
Simmer on a low flame till it comes to a boil
Heat oil and add the remaining garlic pods and fry till they turn reddish-brown
Add the seasoning to the dish
The teppals can be discarded before you serve. Its used just for the aroma and taste it adds to the dish

This can be had with a simple dal and rice.
Teppal has a very sharp and strong flavour. It tastes great with the fish curries, but I love it in this dish too.

14 comments:

FH said...

I heard about this dish, looks so delicious, must try. There is a Pakistani dish called "Takatak" too for the sound they make on the tava with steel spatula! :D

SJ said...

jaggery, tamarind corrainder it has everything-must try!

Usha said...

Never heard of this dish, sounds interesting and yum ....

Cham said...

Sound delicous this dish and tempting one.

Le @HC said...

Simple and Yummy..

Pavithra Kodical said...

I love coconut based curry..This looks delicious.

Suparna said...

Hi,
Being a konkani myself I haven't heard of this dish...Sounds yummy n healthy I'll surely try this arch :) thanks.
TC

Vikis Kitchen said...

Khatkhaten looks very new and delicious for me. Konkani dishes are always tasty.

Red Chillies said...

hey Arch, tonda udda etta makka especially with teppal. I love teppal based curry. Now I did know that this curry has both teppal and garlic, this is new to me.

Archana said...

@Asha Takatak - thats an apt name !! some konkani dishes have real interesting names and my non-konkani husband finds them hilarious !!

@SJ - almost all authentic konkani masalas have coriander, tamarind, coconut and jaggery

@Usha, Cham, Le, Pavithra, Vicky - do try it out, simple and healthy

@Suparna - i hadn't heard of it till i had it in Goa. Found the recipe in Rasachandrika, its made with just pumpkin in that, but i like to add other veggies too

@RC - u bet, the teppal aroma and taste is awesome

Priya Suresh said...

Wow delicious dish, never heard of this!

Chitra said...

sounds interesting and delicious:)

Miri said...

Sigh, how I miss listening to that beautiful language...lowin

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Presentation is awesome!

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