Kulith Koddel Vali Dentu ani Bimbul ghalnu/ Horse Gram Curry with Malabar Spinach Stems and Tree Sorrel Fruit

"Kulith Koddel Vali Dentu ani Bimbul ghalnu/ Horse Gram Curry with Malabar Spinach Stems and Tree Sorrel Fruit seasoned with garlic" … A delicious spicy aromatic curry prepared by roasting and cooking kulith along with vali dentu and bimbul … tastes awesome served with rice … Yummilicious ….

** Malabar Spinach or Vali is a leafy vegetable, a creeper with thick stems that is one of Konkani Saraswat favorite and we prepare many dishes using the same. I am sure all of you know of the leafy vegetable as I have posted this quite often before. I posted a curry a few days back with the addition of chana along with it too. Sometimes when the bunch is large there are either too many leaves and less stems or more stems and less leaves. The bunch I bought had too many stems. We always separate the stems and the same can be used while preparing other dishes too by adding them on. And I had a bag full of them in my fridge lying to be used into cooking. I was wondering what to do with the same, when my phone bell rang. Mom was online asking me about my health, yes a routine query she does whenever she knows I have overworked myself. That is why they are called Mom’s they can sense everything even from distance.

** I was just chatting with Mom over phone when I chanced upon telling her about the extra stems that were lying in the fridge. Mom suggested I prepare Kulith / Horse gram koddel using them. Well I have prepared the same before so I asked her if there was any other method. Then she told me about roasting the kulith and then preparing the same. Though I prepare by soaking overnight and cooking the same, I was intrigued with this news. Mom said her eldest sister who passed away long back used to always prepare it when the stems were in excess. I was actually not convinced as roasting would increase my cooking time as there was no soaking. But decided to give it a try. And yes she was right, roasting does impart a lovely aroma to the kulith that normal cooking does not do. The recipe however is the same as that of other koddel’s except here you roast and then cook the horse gram

** Here is the recipe for "Kulith Koddel Vali Dentu ani Bimbul ghalnu/ Horse Gram Curry with Malabar Spinach Stems and Tree Sorrel Fruit seasoned with garlic" ..... do try out this curry, it tastes awesome ..... 

** Ingredients :

Kulith/ Horse Gram: 2 cups

Vali Dentu/ Malabar Spinach Stems : 15-20 pieces of 3 inch length.

Bimbul/ Bimbli/ Tree Sorrel Fruit : 4-5 large size, 

Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 1 cup heaped

Red dried Kashmiri chillies/ Byadgi Mirchi/ Kumte Mirsanga : 8-10

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste

** For Tempering/ Pannaka :

Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 2 tsp

Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 12- 15 cloves

** Pick, clean and wipe dry with a cloth kulith/ Horse Gram properly. There are small stones etc.mixed in it so you should give it a thorough check. Add it into a thick bottomed kadai and roast on medium flame stirring often to avoid it getting burnt till you get a nice aroma. It will take about 3-4 minutes only.

** Once roasted put it into a pressure cooker pan with some water say to the level of an inch above the level of kulith in the cooker. Pressure cook on medium flame to 3-4 whistles and then lower the heat to minimum and cook for 5 minutes. In between if there comes out whistles do not worry as kutith never gets overcooked.

** Note : You can strain the kulith cooked water, add some more water to the kulith mix well, strain the same too and keep it away separately to be prepared into saar/ saaru which can be served as an appetizer or with rice and it tastes excellent. This is what is done in most Konkani homes. I am common link to all kulith recipes at the bottom of this recipe which includes the saar recipe too, do check it out and try. 

** Remove and keep aside for the pressure to fall on its own. Once the pressure has cooled and you are able to remove the lid do so gently. Wash and add stems of Vali (Malabar Spinach), into the pressure cooker above cooked kulith, add water if necessary or if you have removed the cooked water to prepare saar/ saaru and pressure cook together on medium heat to two whistles. Remove, let cool, when able to, remove lid and add them into a thick bottomed vessel and keep this ready aside.

** Masala to be Ground : Add freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) into a mixer grinder along with red kashmiri chillies (byadgi mirchi/ kumte mirsanga) and grind to a very fine paste. You can use the kulith- vali dentu cooked water for grinding the masala too which is what I usually. Do remember that the masala should be ground to a thick and smooth texture without adding excess water. 

** Note : Do add in a small marble sized pieced of tamarind/ chinchama/ imly while grinding the masala, if NOT adding any tart veggie to curry. I have added bimbul/ tree sorrel fruit to the curry so I have NOT ADDED any tamarind to the masala. You can also replace bimbul (tree sorrel fruit) with ambado (hogplum) or karmbala (starfruit) to the curry. At times I even add kokum/ kudumpuli or raw mango to curries.

** Add ground paste to cooked kulith- vali dentu in the vessel and mix well. Add bimbul/ tree sorrel fruit after slicing off both sides edge portion and slicing them into roundels of 1/2 inch in size. Add salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and check the consistency of the gravy, if too thick add in some water to bring to desired thick consistency. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring in between to avoid it getting burnt. Once it boils for 2-3 minutes, lower the heat and simmer till the bimbul is cooked which hardly takes time. Remove from heat and keep it aside while we prepare tempering.

** For Tempering/ Pannaka : Heat oil (tel/ tela) in a small pan, when hot add in peeled and slightly crushed garlic cloves (losun/ lehsun) and fry till they are evenly lightly browned in color. Remove and pour this over the curry, cover and keep this aside for 15- 20 minutes for flavors to seep in. You can retain the skin of garlic and crush the same and use in tempering too, it tastes more aromatic.

** "Kulith Koddel Vali Dentu ani Bimbul ghalnu/ Horse Gram Curry with Malabar Spinach Stems and Tree Sorrel Fruit seasoned with garlic"  is done and ready to be served. This is a delicious dish that is best served with rice and we GSB Konkani Saraswats love to relish the same with Red Boiled rice/ Ukde SheetHa or plain rice. However, you can relish the same with roti/ paratha/ dosa/ idly etc. in which case keep the curry slightly thicker in texture/ consistency for better taste.

** Sharing a few common links to "Koddel Recipes", Recipes with Kulith/ Horse Gram", "Recipes with Bimbul" and "Recipes with Vali/ Malabar Spinach" below, you may browse through the same in leisure and try them, the common link to kulith also includes the saar/ saaru recipe which I mentioned about above, that which is prepared using the strained pressure kulith cooked water, the common link to keerlu also includes the method of brine/ mitta ghalche/ salt water preserve of bamboo shoots .....
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=koddel
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=kulith
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=vali
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=bimbul

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