“Shell Fish (Clams/ Marvai/ Khubbo) Masala Curry” … Nostalgic; I grew up relishing this delicious Manglorean fish curry prepared either with kurlo (crab) or khubbo (shell fish) ... tastes awesome when served with panpolo/ ghee rice or kori rotti … Yummilicious …
** It has been quite some time since I posted fish dishes especially the ones with Khubbo/Clams. As I mentioned it is difficult to get good ones in my vicinity and you have to tell them two days prior to buying and I somehow always forget as I never plan ahead the dishes. So today since she had good one’s I bought the same and here is a famous Mangalorean dish prepared often either with khubbo ie Clams/ Marvai/ shell fish or with crabs/ Kurlo. This recipe my mother used to prepare with crabs which she learnt from our then neighbor. Khubbo was almost never prepared in Mom’s place and it was much later when we shifted homes and our neighbor who were regular fish eaters gave me some to relish that I went ga ga over it. Even after marriage no one preferred it so I rarely got to prepare it. But somehow in the recent years hubby has caught a fancy for khubbo and crabs to my delight and I get to prepare and relish it. This curry as I said is a common one and best relished with panpolo (neer dosa) or ghee rice, though it goes equally well with plain rice too, specially ukda rice /red boiled rice.
** Shell Fish /Clams/ Marvai/ Khubbo as it is called is a little bit tedious to prepare and that is the very reason why people do not prefer them much. However, sometimes desire to eat them overcomes the laziness and I venture into preparing these when my fish vendor brings them in plenty. I have discovered one of the easiest method of opening up the khubbo/clams and now it is breeze work for me and does not eat up on my time. 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 stainless steel dabba / box and put it in the freezer overnight. You will find that they are all popped open and ready next morning. Isn’t that the easiest, why fret over to open them with knife or boil them etc.
** Here is my simple method of preparing “Shell Fish (Clams/ Marvai/ Khubbo) Masala Curry” … My Style …
** 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 khubbe / 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 khubbo cleaned and ready. Keep only one chip in which the flesh portion exists and discard the other chip.
** You will need about 100 large sized Clams/Khubbo / Shell Fish / Marwai for this curry.
** For Masala to be ground : Heat about about 2 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add in 1 tsp of Cumin Seeds (Jeera), 2 tblsp Coriander seeds (Kothimbir/ Dhania), ½ tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Methi), ½ tsp of Black Pepper Corns (Mire), 10-12 Garlic (Losun), 1/8 tsp Vonvo (Ajwain) and fry on medium heat for a minute. Now add in one small sized Onion (Piyavu/Kanda) peeled and chopped into medium size and continue frying till translucent. Now add in ½ tsp of Turmeric (Haldi), mix well and then add in 3-4 cups of freshly grated Coconut/Soyi and mix well. Fry for 2-3 minutes, remove and let cool a bit.
** Put the above fried ingredients into mixer grinder along with a marble sized ball of Tamarind (Chinchama/ Imly) and grind to a smooth paste with about ½ to 1 cup of water. The ground paste should be fine. Remove and add the ground masala into a wide cooking vessel. Add in required amount of water to bring to a thick gravy consistency. Add Salt to taste and mix well. Bring this all to a boiling point, now add in prepared and kept clams and cook till done. Clams do not take much time and will get cooked fast.
** For Seasoning/Tempering : Heat 2-3 tblsp of oil in a small seasoning pan, when hot add in one small Onion (Piyavu/ Kanda) chopped fine and fry on medium heat till it turns brown in colour. Immediately pour this over the cooking curry mix well, remove, cover and keep it aside for about 20-30 minutes for the flavours to get seeped in. Check consistency before serving, if too thick, you can add some boiling water and mix well and it is done.
** “Shell Fish (Clams/ Marvai/ Khubbo) Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best when served with panpolo/neer dosa or ghee rice. You can also serve it 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 curry and enjoy with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible.
** If you are a regular 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 : 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.
** 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 ….
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks.