“Sukkale Sungata- Batato- Piyava Songa/ Sun- Dried Prawns- Potato- Onion Dry Curry” … here is a superb combo songa, a spicy semi dry masala dish prepared with sun-dried prawns along with potatoes … usually either potato- onion or prawn- onion songa is prepared in our Konkani Cuisine … I did not want to add too much of dried prawns as it upsets the stomach at times, so gave a twist and prepared it in addition of both … Yummilicious …
** Sukkale Sungata or Dried Prawns are small medium sized prawns that have been shelled, salted (Optional) and then sun dried on sands of sea shores, till crisp and sold by fish vendors in market. These prawns when sun dried shrink in size and are usually available in the size of approximately about 1.5 inches in length. The tail and head with whiskers are still sharp and you have got to be careful when you remove them. These sun dried prawns have a very strong smell and a handful of the same when added to curries imparts a unique aroma to the same. We have been relishing these since childhood specially added to Vali ie Malabar spinach or as panna upkari. In Mumbai, we get them all cleaned and cleared off their head portion and thorns, whiskers etc. and all we need to do is store them well and they remain good for over an year, though frankly it gets over before that time.
** I always purchase about 2 kgs, again sun-dry them for my consolation and store them in a air tight box and use when necessary. This time however, I could not buy them due to lock down, everything is shut down, but to my luck, when I had gone on office work outside town, I saw vendors sitting and selling them on highways as they had no other option, but for an exorbitant price. Well, I bought them 2 kgs in all and the biggest problem of this one was I had to clean it myself, which took me a good two days and a home filled with strong smell, which took me another few days to remove. Sigh, when things were easily available we never understood the work load put in only to realize now. Well, it is now stored and sitting on top shelf, its usual place and until next year, no issues about the same. This year however, I intend learn some new recipes with addition of these dried prawns.
** Batate Songa is a very famous Konkani Saraswat dish prepared almost in every home. This is a semi dry spicy dish that goes well with roti or Dal-Chawal. In GSB home of yesteryear rice was the main staple dish for lunch and roti or chapati was prepared rarely for breakfast. So this dish was served for lunch/dinner along with Dalitoy and Chawal. With changing times and people migrating to different destinations food habits have also changed. Wheat flour is available all round the world and people have adapted to roti a very healthy option into their meals. And this dish goes very well with roti / poori as it is a semi dry dish. Goes well with roti and can be carried in lunch box too. As we love this spicy songa very much in our home, I decided to try out by adding a handful of the same to songa as dried prawns too needs spicy curries for good taste etc. Here it is very tasty, do try it out.
** Here is the recipe for “Sukkale Sungata- Batato- Piyava Songa/ Sun- Dried Prawns- Potato- Onion Dry Curry” … My very own style …
** Ingredients :
Onions/ Piyavu/ Kanada : 3 large sized.
Potato/ Batato/ Aloo : 2 large sized or 3 medium sized.
Sun-dried Prawns/ Sukkale Sungata : ½ cup
Mustard Seeds/ Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 10-12
Oil/Tela : 3 tblsp (Approxi)
Salt/Namak/ Meetha to taste
** For Masala to be ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : ¼ cup freshly grated.
Kashmiri Red Chillies/ Kumte Mirsanga : 12-15
Coriander Seeds/ Dhania/ Kothambari : 2 tsp.
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : small marble sized.
Pictures of “Sukkale Sungata/ Dried Prawns”
picked, cleaned, wash, soaked and ready for using.
** Pick, clean, remove the tail, head, legs of the dried prawns if any, wash them in plenty of water. Now put them in a bowl with lukewarm water and leave aside for 20-25 mins. The prawns will get softened and nicely puffed a bit. Rinse it well and it is ready for use.
** Peel off the skin of the potatoes and cut them into one inch sized cubes. Wash and keep them ready aside. Similarly slice off the edges of the onions and peel the skin. Cut them also into cubes of the same size as that of the potatoes.
** In a pressure cooker pan add in the prepared and kept dried prawns in a layer, then top it with the cubed potatoes in a layer. Now add in just enough water, say to the level of the ingredients in the pressure cooker pan and pressure cook to one whistle only.
** Remove and keep the cooker pan aside for say about 5 mins. then with the help of tongs, release the pressure by lifting the whistle and then slowly open the lid. Be careful and stand away as the steam may pass on and burn you hands.
** Note : The release of pressure method is followed to prevent overcooking of the ingredients in the pressure cooker pan. Do not allow the potato to get overcooked as then the dish does not turn out good.
** For Masala to be ground : Add all the ingredients to be ground into a mixer grinder ie. the coconut, coriander seeds, tamarind and red chillies and grind to a very smooth paste with little bit of water. You can use the potato- prawns cooked water for grinding purpose, as that is what we usually do. Do not add excess water as we need the masala to be thick in texture.
** Heat oil in a kadai, when hot add in the mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter add in the curry leaves and fry for a minute. Now add in the cubed onions and fry till translucent for a few minutes. When done add in ground masala, the remaining water left over from cooking of potatoes- prawns if any, cover and cook on low heat till the masala comes to a boil.
** Now add in the pressure cooked potatoes, prawns, salt to taste and mix well. Add in water only if necessary and you find the curry too thick. This is a semi dry curry, so be careful with addition of water, though it does dry up a bit on cooling. Cover and cook on slow for 5-7 minutes stirring once or twice in between to avoid the curry getting burnt at the bottom.
** “Sukkale Sungata- Batato- Piyava Songa/ Sun- Dried Prawns- Potato- Onion Dry Curry” is done and ready to be served. This is a traditional side dish curry from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine that tastes best when served with Dal- Chawal or with Chapati/ Roti. The dish tastes even better the next days as it matures on resting. You can also serve it with dosa/ panpolo (neer dosa) etc. Do try out this dish and enjoy with your family and friends.
** This is a very spicy dish that tastes simply awesome but has a strong dried fish flavor and not upto some people liking, so when purchasing or trying out for the first time, just use handful and adapt to the same before going ahead with more purchasing. You can increase or decrease the number of red chillies as per your taste level of spices, as it’s always an individual choice. But this is very spicy curry and addition of both potatoes and onions add to sweetness, so the level of chillies for spice has to be kept up, so add them on accordingly.
** Note : I have posted a detailed picture by picture collage above of dried prawns, picked, cleaned, wash, soaked and ready for using for better understanding of the procedure, so do check out the same keenly and you can easily follow the same.
** Sharing a common link for all “Songa” shared in the Blog before, You may browse through the same for more options and try them out and enjoy with your family …
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