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.



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.

New Year, new beginning...

Happy New Year people...

One of my resolutions for this year was to start on a food blog...I have been completely fascinated by this whole community of food blogging and thanks to Miri, a dear friend, who was my peephole into this community, I have finally managed to start on one.

We've moved from Bangalore to Ahmedabad about 6 months back...Was holed up in a company guest house where the cook wouldn't let me step into the kichen (there couldn't be a bigger punishment than that)...to make things worse, he had this 'one-size-fits-all' kind of masala which was stashed in the freezer and this would be used for every vegetable (deep fried beyond recognition) from a simple tendli to paneer...

On our lucky days, we would get egg burjee and veg biryani...the food was tasty but two days of the same stuff made me sick in the stomach...and we stayed there for 5 months, so you get the picture, right...I craved to cook and now finally,we've moved out to our apt and i have my kitchen to myself...yipeee...


Beans Popti






I guess this is called Popti because its so GREEN in colour. (Popat means parrot in Konkani / Marathi)
Five months of almost no coconut intake and a Mangalorean like me was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, so my first post had to be something that had coconut in it !


What you need -

1/2 kg french beans (tender ones are perfect)
2 onions chopped lengthwise
1/2 coconut dessicated
6-8 garlic pods
1/2" piece ginger
2 green chillies
1 cup coriander leaves chopped

What you do with it -

String the beans and chop into inch sized pieces.
In a kadai, heat a tsp of oil and add the chopped onions
Fry till translucent
Add beans, salt, 1/2 cup water and cover the kadai till the beans are cooked well.
Blend together the coconut, coriander, green chillies, ginger and garlic till its smooth.
Add this to the beans and cook for a bit. Add more salt if required.