“Kooka- Kajjubi ghalnu Hinga Randai (Hummana)/ Chinese Potato- Cashew Nut Curry with Asafoetida” … Kooka is in season now, here is a delicious medium spicy curry from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine that tastes delicious when served with Boiled Rice / Rice … Yummilicious …
** Once again, its “Hummana” a curry that I have posted many times with different veggies / non-veg. This medium spicy curry seasoned with hing / asafoetida and coconut oil is a favorite in my home and is prepared at least once in a month. This curry / hummana is prepared both with veg as well as non veg items. It is called Hummana/ Hinga Udaaka Ghalnu Randai/ Bendi by Saraswat community people. The flavor of the hing and coconut oil is what makes the curry awesome. The taste of the curry is something that will make you try this out with various combinations. Hogplums, Bimbul, Karmbal can be added in for sourness instead of tamarind while grinding the masala. The best of all is potato in veggie, white kidney bean or rajma in pulses and prawns in non veg. But today I prepared the same with Kooka/ Chinese Potatoes which are in season now and added on cashew nuts as they add on a deliciousness to the curry by making it richer in serving.
** Bibbo are tender cashew nuts or dried once with skin that are soaked, skinned and used and are used extensively in Konkani Saraswat Cuisine. If it is available to you, do add it on, I have stopped storing them as I have no one who will courier the same to me from Mangalore where in it is abundantly available during summer months. My father used to buy them in bulk and my mother used to dry them again in the sunlight and store them in huge 15 Kg. dabbas / boxes. That way we used to get to relish the same all year round. After marriage too, my father saw to it that he parceled the same to us every year. After his death, the habit got stopped, I used to purchase from Mangalore stores in Mumbai, but somehow he too has stopped bringing them and it was then my dear friend who is unfortunately no more told me to use cashew nuts as there was hardly any difference in the same. Also being a caterer she knew better and told me most of the caterer did the same now as soaking and then peeling off the skin needed laborers which was hard to find.
** I was so happy with the suggestion as not only was my task of peeling the outer skin done with, the relief that cashew nuts were available in plenty made it that much more easier to prepare dishes. After that there was simply no looking back and I prepared every dish that needed bibbo (tender cashew –dried) with cashew nuts and they taste awesome. No regrets whatsoever of not being able to get the stock. So go ahead and prepare this simple but yummy flavoured curry and enjoy with your family and friends. And if you have access to the gummy textured hing which we soak in water and use the water only, do so, coz. that is the best flavoured hing specially for this curry. In case it’s not available you can always use powdered form of hing / asafoetida available freely in the market. You just need to season it in coconut oil before addition unlike the hing water. However, I posted this dish several times each time with a different combination of veggies while the basic curry recipe remains the same. I am however, repeating it again here for your convenience.
** This time I have prepared Hummana in combination of Chinese Potato / Kooka as called in Konkani which is in season now along with kajjubi / cashew nuts. Chinese Potato / Kooka is slightly a tedious time consuming tuber as it is muddy and the skin has to be removed with scrapper and is a pain to do so with small sized ones. In olden days the whole lot used to be put in gunny bags and the same used to bit hit / banged on a stone or rough surface which actually loosened the skin and made it easily to wash it off. Now neither do we have access much to gunny bags nor do we have large stoneware at home so we have to do with scrapper, which is messy as the hands to get darkened. The best way out is to soak in plenty of water for any hour which loosen the mud that has stuck to it. You can put on gloves and then rub them well, some get peeled easily when doing so, while for some the mud get loosened out but will have to be peeled off with a potato scraper, but the taste of the delicious dish is worth the effort. Do try this delicious combo curry and enjoy with hot red boiled rice or steamed rice or with any rice that you normally cook. It tastes best when served with rice and in my home we enjoy it with boiled rice.
** Here is the method of preparing “Kooka- Kajjubi ghalnu Hinga Randai (Hummana)/ Chinese Potato- Cashew Nut Curry with Asafoetida” …. My Style …
** Ingredients :
Kooka/ Chinese Potato : about 25 large sized ones’ say the size of small lemons.
Cashew Nuts/ Kajjubi/ Kaju : 25-30 (halved)
Hinga Uddaka/ Water prepared out of Asafoetida in gummy form : 1 tblsp
(Check how to prepare hinga uddaka at the bottom of this recipe)
OR ... Hing / Asafoetida Powder : 1tsp
Coconut Oil/ Nariyal Tel/ Narlel Tela : 1 tblsp
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** For Masala to be ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 1 heaped cup grated
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder/ Mirsange Pitti/ Mirchi Powder : 1 heaped tblsp
OR .... Kashmiri Red Chillies/ Byadgi Mirchi/ Kumte Mirsanga : 6-8
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : small marble sized ball.
** Soak cashew nuts in warm water, just enough to soak for 3-4 hours. This step is optional, and you can also pressure cook the same directly. But by soaking cashews absorb water and it turns more softer and tastier closer to bibbo texture.
** Note : If using tender cashews or sun dried ones with skin, then soak them in hot water for a few hours and when the skin is loosened peel it off, wash well and then use the same. However you can use the cashew nuts skinned and easily available in stores too, just soak them in hot water for 2 hours and add them in pressure cooker along with the water and with other ingredients to cook.
** For removing the outer skin of the Chinese Potato / Kooka …..
** One way of peeling the outer skin is, You can either just use the potato peeler and peel the kookas using it or as below ....
** The Traditional Method : The other traditional way is to put the amount of kooka needed for peeling of in a gunny bag (Ghoni) and tightly packing it and then banging it on to a stone firmly while rotating the bag all round as you go through the method. This loosen the skin and most of it comes off. Just scrub it with both hands retaining it within the gunny bag to loosen it more. This method is not used much now as it is difficult to access for gunny bag. Even rice have been started to come in plastic type bags. If you have one, you can sure try this out. My mother used to make it this way and during childhood we used to loved doing it for her. We really did enjoying banging around the gunny bag to loosen the outer skin of kooka.
** My Method : I soak the required amount of kooka in plenty of water for about 5-10 mins. This loosens the dry mud that is sticking to the kooka. The I try loosening off the mud right there in the water by rubbing them between finger. Some kooka are well behaved and peel off easily, while some are stubborn and just don't listen making it difficult. So use the potato peeler and zap it comes out faster than when you run it on the drier one mentioned first.
** Important step of soaking in water once its peeled. : It is very important to drop the skin peeled kooka / chinese potato into water to prevent it being discolored. So keep a bowl with plenty of water ready and drop the peeled kookas into them. Once done, wash them in plenty of water, rinsing many times in fresh water.
** Cut kooka/ chinese potato into 2-3 pieces say about size of an inch cubes. Add them into the bowl of water as you cut them. Wash well 2-3 times again with fresh water changing the water all time. This helps in removing the excess starch and the dirt to if stuck to it as there is definitely going to be a lot of it.
** Add in the kooka cubes and the soaked cashew nuts into the pressure cooker along with the same water in which the cashew nut were soaked. Add in more water if necessary. The level of water should be just a little bit above the level of the ingredients in the pressure cooker. Do not add in more water or else the ingredients will get overcooked. Cook on medium flame to one whistle and remove from fire. Let the pressure fall on it own on cooling down. Remove the lid, gently open and Keep it aside ready.
** For Masala to be Ground : Grind to a fine paste in a mixer grinder coconut with either the chilly powder or kashmiri chillies and tamarind using water sparingly. The masala should be very fine. Remove and keep it ready aside.
** In a stainless steel vessel add in cooked kooka and cashew nuts along with the ground masala and mix well. Add in water as is necessary to bring to a thick curry consistency. Bring the curry to a boil on medium heat, mixing once or twice in between. Once the curry has simmered properly, add in prepared hing water and coconut oil. Let cook for 2 minutes and then remove the curry from fire. Cover and keep it aside for the flavors to seep into the curry.
** Note : If for some reason you do not have the edible gummy hing or if not available in you vicinity. Now worries, just heat the coconut oil and add in 2 tsp of hing powder and pour it over the curry. If you do not like or do not want to add coconut oil for any reason you can add in any other edible oil. However, coconut oil fragrance is what it makes this curry more appealing.
** “Kooka~Kajjubi ghalnu Hinga Randai (Hummana) / Chinese Potato ~Cashew Nut Curry with Asafoetida” is done and ready to be served. Serve the curry hot with rice or roti or Idly. The curry tastes best with rice / Idly. You can also serve the same with simple bland jeera rice or vatana bhaat too. I however, served this Boiled rice and it tasted awesome.
** For Preparing of Hing / Asafoetida Water From Gummy Hing : Hing water is prepared by putting a small marble sized gummy hing (available in South Indian Stores) into a glass bottle and adding about a small cup of boiled and cooled water to it. Within a few hours the hing will slowly melt and you will get a thick whitish liquid. This is hing water. You can keep this in the fridge and use sparingly as and when needed. We GSB / Saraswat Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other humman etc. If you do not have the gummy hing, no issues, you can add hing / asafoetida powder in which case always add it into the hot oil while tempering to get a good aroma.
** You can check out more “hummana” options/ recipes in the common link shared below …
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