“Khubbe Randai with Hinga Uddak-Narlel Tela (Hummana)/Clams Fish Curry with Asafoetida-Coconut Oil” … A simple medium spicy fish curry from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine that tastes awesome when served with Ukde SheetHa / Red Boiled Rice … Yummilicious ……
** It has been ages since I posted any dish prepared with Khubbo/Clams. It is difficult to get good ones in my vicinity and it just happened so today that my fish vendor had some good ones with her for sale. Though I did not want to prepare fish curry today as I am hard bound for time having various commitments to attend to, I could not resist myself and though my lunch dishes were already prepared for the noon, I just felt another dish would do not harm, so just bought some of them and rushed home to cook them soon, so that I would get plenty of time to go out on my pressing appointments. Luckily, I always have freshly grated coconut in my freezer which lasts me for a week or so which makes preparing of dishes really easy.
** Fish eaters are well aware that there are many types of clams found all over the world, in different sizes and taste too varies, but they are all delicious I guess though I have eaten only the ones available in Mangalore and Mumbai. These fishes are known as Khubbo in konkani, Cockles/Shell fish/Clams in English, Marwai in Tulu a native language of many in South Kanana, Teesriya in Marathi and I am sure there are many more names too as per the language of the that region. These are really healthy and delicious. However, as it is a little bit tedious to eat people do not prefer them much. But sometimes desire to eat them overcomes the laziness and I venture into preparing these when my fish vendor brings them in plenty.
** Again, my discovery of the easiest method of opening up the khubbo/clams has made it breeze work for me and now I really don’t mind preparing them. I have given below three methods of opening up the clams/khubbo that are tightly closed, I am sure you will find them useful. Today, as I wanted to prepare it immediately I prepared the 2nd method given below, otherwise I always put them in freezer and follow the third method posted below, If you have time, try it, it’s a breeze work and I always recommend the 3rd one. Just purchase them, wash them under plenty of water and put them in a tight steel dabba / box and put it in the freezer overnight. You will find that they are all popped open and ready next morning.
** Here is my simple method of preparing “Khubbe Randai with Hinga Uddak-Narlel Tela (Hummana)/Clams Fish Curry with Asafoetida-Coconut Oil” … My Style …
** You will need about 50 large sized Clams / Khubbo / Shell Fish / Marwai for this curry.
** Cleaning of Khubbo/Clams : You can use any method you usually use in cleaning them, However, I am sharing 3 ways below and you can choose out that which is convenient to you if you are new to clams.
** Firstly Clean the khubbo / clams in plenty of water, You can use a colander and rinse it under running tap water for cleaning all the dirt in it. Remember there is always sand in clams and these are a bit tedious to clean, so the more you rinse properly in large sieved colander the better.
** Now There are 3 ways of opening the tightly closed/clammed kubbo / clams .......
** The First Method is to cut open the clams with a sharp knife. But you have to be careful in doing it as you may hurt yourself if not aware of handling it properly. You can watch some You tube demo for the same, which will help you to exactly understand the method of preparing the clams. Retain the shell in which the flesh is stuck and discard the other one.
** Now the Second Method is the easier one, which I followed earlier. Just put the whole kubbe / clams in a broad vessel and add one cup of water. Put it on heat, the minute the water starts to get hot and before reaching boiling point the shells crack up. Immediately remove it from fire and allow cooling properly. When able to handle the shells remove the empty shell and discard them. Do not throw away the water in which the kubbe / clams were cooked. Pass it through a fine sieve or cloth (I use cloth) to strain off the sand particles if any. This cooked water can be used while grinding the masala and if necessary to add to the cooking curry. Just do not add more water while cooking the shells or else the water will go waste as we do not need much of it. One cup for 3-4 cups of shell fish is more than enough. Just rinse the retained shells and use it in cooking. Simple.
** The Third and the Easiest and Best of all Methods..... Which I discovered recently.
This is the method I follow now as it is very easy without any hazels the only hitch being you will need time of say about 24 hours. Just wash the kubbe / clams / shell fish in plenty of water. Drain off all excess water, put them in a thick plastic / polythene, and fold over tightly. Put this in deep freezer over night or for a day. Remove the frozen shell fish and put them in a wide dish and pour room temperature water to the vessel to brim level. Cover and keep it aside for an hour. When you check later on you will find that all the shells would have opened up by themselves. Wash in plenty of water taking care to see that you rinse off all the sand that is within the shells. You may retain this as it is or remove off one of the shell that is empty and use them. Rest method as per the requirement of the recipe. This I came about accidentally recently, when i stored it freezer and put it into vessel as said above. When opened I saw that the shells has opened up well.
** Use any of the above method and keep the kubbe cleaned and ready. Keep only one chip in which the flesh portion exists and discard the other chip as shown in the picture above ....
** Masala to be ground : Add in a mixer grinder 1 full cup of freshly grated coconut with 5-6 red kashmiri chillies, a small marble sized tamarind and grind to a very fine paste with little bit of water. The ground paste should be very fine and not too thin in texture.
** Now add the ground masala in a wide stainless steel vessel, add water if necessary to bring to a thick gravy consistency. Add in the cleaned and kept ready clams/khubbo (using any of the method given above) to it along with salt to taste and mix well. Now bring the curry to a boil on medium heat and then let the gravy simmer for a few minutes on low heat.
** The clams hardly take time to cook, maximum 5-8 minutes, now add in 1 tablespoon of prepared hing water (preparation method given below) and 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Wait for a few seconds and then remove the curry from fire and keep it aside covered for 15-20 minutes for the flavors to get well seeped in within.
** “Khubbe Randai with Hinga Uddak-Narlel Tela (Hummana)/Clams Fish Curry with Asafoetida-Coconut Oil” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best when served with steaming hot plain rice / red boiled rice, but you may serve the same with any other accompanied dish of your choice. Try out this simple curry and enjoy with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible.
** If you are a fish eater and have not tried eating clams, do so, they are very healthy and great for health and there are many dishes that you can try them out with, you can also add them to soups or prepare gravy based dishes with it and enjoy with rice or mildly spiced rice too. Once you learn the trick of opening them up, which looks tedious, it is a breeze work, I have included just a few dishes in my blog and assuring you of adding many more in the coming months.
** Note : For Preparing Asafoetida / Hing Water : 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 / Sarawath Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other hummana etc.
** If adding Asafoetida / hing powder, heat the coconut oil and when hot add in a 1 large teaspoon of hing powder in it and then add it to the curry. I have added hing water which is always available in my home. You may choose any method.
** Note : I have given a common link of "Khubbo/Clams" below which includes them prepared in different methods, please go through the link and you will find more options, combination in preparation of the same curry.
** Note : I have given a common link of "Hummana" below which includes both Veg. and Non.Veg curries with the same, please go through the link and you will find more options, combination in preparation of the same curry.
** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible.
** I am happy to inform you that I have also started a food group for by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" which is over and year old, with about 19K strong members. It is a pleasure to inform that you will find in the group many more recipes posted by our expert members and you too can share some of your own. The link to the group is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring" … Thank You ….
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