Sunday, February 28, 2021

Magge- Bikkanda- Sukkale Sungtache Koddel (South Indian Cucumber- Jackfruit Seeds- Dried Prawns Curry- Garlic Seasoning).


“Magge- Bikkanda- Sukkale Sungtache Koddel (South Indian Cucumber- Jackfruit Seeds- Dried Prawns Curry with Garlic Seasoning)” … simple delicious curry from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared by those who love dried prawns in their curry … these are very aromatic and just a handful added to curries go a long way in satisfying taste buds but exclusively for fish lovers … other do excuse, however you can try the same curry leaving out addition of the same which turns equally good too … it is a delight to relish this curry served with red boiled rice/ plain rice … however, I served it with joladda rotti (jwarichi bhakri/ jowar/ sorghum roti) another excellent combo … Yummilicious …

** There is nothing new about koddel a Konkani Saraswat recipe with garlic seasoning, as I have posted this in various combinations already in the blog with dried prawns too as ambat or other dishes. Dried prawns are very aromatic and loved by my hubby and he always insists I add a handful to all curries and I do so as they always turn out great, but for the same has to be a spicy gravy dish as it compliments well adapting to the spice level in the curry if not the dish turns out slightly bland and not so appealing, though some may like it too.

** Again, I wanted to try out Jolada rotti/ Sorghum roti on my new discovery of using silicon sheets for patting them, for which we always love to have a spicy dish to serve along and that is the very reason I tried this combo of koddel today with whatever veggies I had at home. I have already posted this dish before without addition of prawns, so I will repeat the same here, but will be adding common links to recipes at the bottom of this post so that you can browse out through the same and try them out too whenever time permits.

** I must mention that magge/ south Indian cucumber is a vegetable, if you have access to must be used extensively in your diet pattern as it is very healthy veggie having excellent coolant properties. This veggie can be used both in cooked and uncooked form too as it is close in resemblance to cucumber which is used in salads. Many a times I just grate the fleshy portion and add on to curds to prepare a salad, the inner seeds too need not be discarded and can be prepared into tambuli another body coolant dish prepared using curds.

** Jackfruit seeds are obtained from ripe jackfruits and are in season now. We Konkani Saraswats have been using for eons now as a part of our cooking cuisine and even store it for a few months usage when the season is over. These are excellent source of nutrients that is being promoted unfortunately now worldwide and I cringe when I think why we Konkani’s never thought of promoting our own food globally which is gaining popularity only in recent years, thanks to face book, google and other technologies that give worldwide access.

** Here is my very own method of preparing “Magge- Bikkanda- Sukkale Sungtache Koddel (South Indian Cucumber- Jackfruit Seeds- Dried Prawns Curry with Garlic Seasoning)” … My Style …

** Ingredients :
Magge / South Indian Cucumber / Southekai : About 250 gms.
Bikkanda/Jackfruit Seeds : 8-10
Sukkale Sungata/ Sun Dried Prawns : ½ cup
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste

** Masala to be Ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 1 cup heaped freshly grated
Red dried Kashmiri chillies/ Kumte mirsanga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 8-10
Tamarind /Chinchama/ Imly : one small marble sized ball.

** For Tempering/ Seasoning :
Oil : 2 tsp
Garlic/losun/Lehsun : 12- 15 cloves


** Wash the dried prawns in water and then soak them in about 2 glass of hot water, cover and keep it aside for about 20 minutes. The once again wash in fresh water till you get clear water and then drain off excess water and keep aside ready to be used.

** Cut the magge/ south Indian cucumber into 1 inch sized pieces, retaining the outer skin. Remove the innermost seed and keeping them aside. Check out the same on the attached pic for ref. Keep this ready aside.

** Note : You can prepare tambuli or coolant with the inner seeds of the magge without discarding them if you like. These seeds are very healthy to be consumed in various form and we konkani’s usually prepare either of the above mentioned. I have included in the blog and you can search out for the same or else you can discard them if not needed.

** You can use fresh or frozen bikkand/ jackfruit seeds (method of freezing link given at the bottom of the recipe) for the curry. Just wash, remove the outer white skin and mash or crush each bikkand/ jackfruit seed a bit. There should be visible cracks for proper cooking of the same. Keep it ready aside. 

** In a pressure cooker pan, first add in the crushed jackfruit seeds/bikkand in a layer and add about 1 cup of water and pressure cook on medium heat to 3-4 whistles. Once the pressure falls down and you are able to do so remove only the cooked bikkands and put it into another vessel while retaining the cooked water in pressure cooker.

** Now add in the magge/south Indian cucumber pieces. Add in water if needed only and pressure on medium heat to 2 whistles. Allow the pressure to fall on its own and then remove and add the cooked veggies along with the remaining water into the vessel with jackfruit seeds and keep it aside.

** Note : The pressure cooking of veggies and jackfruit seeds are done separately coz. each cooking time variates and if added on together it does not work well. Either of the veggie may remain under cooked or overcooked depending upon the number of whistles taken to cook, so it is adviceable to do so separately.

** Masala to be ground : Add in the coconut, chillies and tamarind into the mixer grinder and grind the masala to a very fine paste with little bit of water. You can use the veggies cooked water for grinding of the masala, that is what we Amchi of every home do. The masala should be thick and really smooth and fine. Remove and add it into the vessel of cooked veggies.

** Add the ground masala with pressure cooked veggies, the prepared and kept dried prawns and mix well, add in just enough water to bring to a thick gravy consistency. Now add salt to taste and bring to a boil on medium heat, mixing once or twice in between. Once it comes to a full boil, lower the heat to minimum and simmer for 5-10 mins. Once done, remove and keep aside ready for tempering.

** Note : Do not worry if the dried prawns will cook or not, they always remain crisp as they are sun dried ones and adding them along with ground masala and boiling the same is enough for this curry, however if you feel otherwise, you can add in the washed and ready ones along with magge while pressure cooking too, it will not overcook. 

** For Tempering / Seasoning : Heat oil in a small kadai. Crush the garlic and add in to the hot oil and fry till evenly browned. Pour this over the curry and cover with a tight lid. Do not peel off the garlic completely you can keep on a little bit of the skin to it. It tastes awesome as the skin imparts more flavour to the curry. Keep the curry aside for 10-15 minutes covered, for the flavours to seep in properly into the curry.

** “Magge- Bikkanda- Sukkale Sungtache Koddel (South Indian Cucumber- Jackfruit Seeds- Dried Prawns Curry with Garlic Seasoning)” is done and now ready to be served. Serve the koddel hot with rice / ukada rice (Red boiled rice) or roti along with other dishes or just the same with rice too, it tastes awesome. You can serve this dish with Idly too, but this time I served with Jollada rotti/ Jwarichi Bhakri and it turned out a fantastic combo.

** Note : I am sharing a few links below of method of freezing jackfruit seeds, koddel curries, sukkale sungata/ dried prawns curries, magge curries, Bikkanda added on curries, so that you can browse through them whenever your time permits. Do give me a feedback if you try out the recipes or if you find them useful too, it motivate me to do more. Thank You ...

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