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.

Chow Chow

My husband always tries to prove that I (Konkanis, in general) have some Chinese connection !! Konkani is spoken with a very nasal twang and lots of words sound very Chinese to a lay person.
Out of curiousity, I googled on this word "ChowChow" before I started writing this post. I googled more to find out if this was the way its spelt, because this recipe doesnt feature in any recipe books, not even Rasachandrika (The bible for Saraswat cooking) and guess what the first result was for a breed of dogs found in Mongolia and China !!


15/8/12 This pic is an updated one. I seem to have all photos that I uploaded directly into blogger :(

Chow chow is also the name of a vegetable in Kannada - I am not sure of the English equivalent, but its known as Bangalore Kathrikai in Tamil. This recipe has nothing to do with the dogs or this vegetable.

Its a medley of potaoes, beans, carrots and bell peppers in a spicy-tangy dry masala. This is a favourite at Ma's place.

What you need -

3 carrots
2 potatoes
2 green bell peppers
10 french beans (I didnt have these at home, so eliminated it)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 heaped teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
juice of 1 lemon

What you do with it -

Cut the vegetables into bite size pieces
Roast the cut bell peppers.
Parboil the potatoes, carrots and beans
Roast the pepper corns, mustard and fenugreek seeds and powder it
In a kadai, heat 2 tsps of oil and add chilli powder, turmeric powder and the dry masala
Add the vegetables and mix well
Add salt and lemon juice