Saturday, May 9, 2009

Dudhya Koddel (Red Pumpkin with sichuan pepper and coconut)

I must have mentioned in all the posts related to Konkani cuisine, that we really cannot complete a meal without some(actually a lot) coconut in it. Its a staple in Mangalorean cuisine and isn't really considered unhealthy.

Either the side dish, or what we have with rice, or both in most cases, has to have coconut in it.
Bendhi, Humman (who-mann), Koddel, Sukke are made with a thick coconut masala, and had as a side dish. Each one had red chillies, tamarind and coconut in it, with a few variations and different seasoning

koddel

Teppal / Sichuan pepper is a spice (pod of a fruit) very specific to Konkani cuisine, and from what I read, also used in Tibetian, Bhutanese and Chinese cuisine ! It adds a wonderful aroma to the dish, but too pungent and strong in taste to be eaten. Teppal is used in koddel and a lot of fish curries, to help fight any gastric problem that the fish creates.

The red chillies used in this are the 'byadgi' variety, which give it a lovely red colour, but not that spicy. Must take some of these chillies back to Ahmedabad - there the chillies are super spicy, but there is no colour !

This koddel is a South Canara special and generally made with red pumpkin - there is also a puli koddel, made with ash gourd.

Koddel

What you need -

1 cup peeled and cubed red pumpkin
1 cup grated coconut
6 red chillies
small ball of tamarind
3-4 teppal (sichuan peppers)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp oil

What you do with it -

Fry red chillies in a tsp of oil
Grind together the coconut, red chillies and tamarind into a smooth paste
Steam cook the pumpkin pieces, adding a little salt when its almost done
Add pumpkin pieces to the coconut masala and bring to a slow boil
In 1/2 tsp oil, fry the teppal (sichuan pepper) and add to the pumpkin

* Warning: Do not eat the teppal / sichuan peppers - they are really strong in taste

10 comments:

veggie belly said...

this looks spicy and delicious! a very unique for me...i'll be sure to try :)

Trupti said...

curry looks very delicious..lovely clicks..

Happy Mother's Day !!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Spicy and yummy! Looks very good...

Red Chillies said...

Arch, This is my favorite, anything with teppal. Arch, tugele ghara etta :-)

Suparna said...

Hi Arch,
koddel with teppal wow! love the flavour and aroma...I brough a stock of teppal this time ven I visited mom recently :) now this is a super temptation to make it.The koddel looks yummmm.
TC

SJ said...

I have no idea how to cook/what to cook with pumpkin. Now I know-but searching for theppal etc in this darn place is &$$##@!***!!!!

Miri said...

I love these coconutty curries - used to eat double the amount of food I normally ate at S pachhi's house!

Priya Suresh said...

Curry looks delicious, never seen those teppal..quite interesting!

Vani said...

Oooh, sounds delicious!

Unknown said...

My better half does not like red pumpkin, I have not made it since i got married :(
I relish it only when I go to mom's place :)
I like this version, we rarely use fresh coconut in our cuisine.

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