"Mitkesanga- Sukkale Sungta Sukke (Cluster Beans- Dried Prawns Semi Dry Curry" ... chitki mitki never tasted better than this in any combo for me ... prepared this sukke completely in amchi style of sukke masalu ... tastes awesome served with dalitoy- sheetHa though it goes well with roti too ... Yummilicious ...
** There is nothing much to write about this accidental dish prepared in a hurry as I did not want to spend much time in kitchen under the smelting heat. I had decided on a simple meal of podi, sukke, upkari, dal- sheetHa and had finished the preparation of other dishes while I had cooked the mitkesanga/ cluster beans and was grinding the sukke masala to be added on. Here comes the twist to the story, enters hubby and queries on what for lunch, on hearing sukke he casually drops a line, saying add in some sukkale sungata to it, meaning add on some dried prawns to sukke. He leaves the kitchen and me in complete dilemma wondering, now what. My inner mind screams, go ahead do it, it’s going to work.
** Well, as you all know there is always a stock of sun dried prawns in my home and most of the time it is hubby who loves it, as though I too love relishing it, I have always found that it gives me stomach ache the following day, so recently I have begun to avoid it. Ok, to cut short, I dropped 2 handful in hot water, allowed it to rest and then went ahead with preparation of sukke and it was done and over soon. I avoided addition of potato which is what I normally add along with cluster beans and trust me it was a fantastic combo discovery of sukke. This one is going to stay in my home for longtime and with it’s success, I am sure to try out more options. But, yes the credit goes to hubby for having given the suggestion to me.
** There are many such incidences in my life be it in my business, home, cooking or any other investments that have been received as extra bonus which has taken me completely in surprise. It makes me truly excited and extremely satisfied when I give face lifts to our own amchi/ Konkani Saraswat dishes. Some may agree, many may disagree with my innovations as I have come across a few who say, Oh! You are diverting from traditions. Well, to each one their own, women have moved from sarees to churdidaar to slacks to dresses and men from dhoti, to trousers, to burmuda, to shorts, Isn’t It??? If that is acceptable then why not food. Traditions are all made and with time twists and turns have been given through generations.
** So, to all out there, try out new dishes giving your own twists and turns or churn out altogether new ones. When you come across a recipe, read it carefully, visualize it, try to imagine aroma, taste, note if your family approves or else change it slightly to suit your requirements, that’s the basics of life. Each one is different, so what tastes good to me need not be to you, you should adapt changes and if luckily you find the recipe intact and great, then go for it and enjoy with your family and friends. Remember there are certainly no rules to be followed while cooking, if there is, it is only one and that is cooking with love, which definitely enhance flavor, aroma and taste of every dish, try it, you will agree with me.
** Here is my simple recipe for "Mitkesanga- Sukkale Sungta Sukke (Cluster Beans- Dried Prawns Semi Dry Curry" … my very own method, in my style …
** Wash, wipe dry and snip of both ends of the cluster beans/ mitkesanga/ chitki mitki/ gavar and cut them into 1.5 inches in length pieces. You will need about 4-5 cups in all. Put them into a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water and pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle only. Add minimum water or else the vegetables will be over cooked. You can cook in kadai too, but then it takes more time, so I use pressure cooker and it suits me fine. Remove and keep it aside allowing the pressure to drop on its own.
** Meanwhile wash about 1 full cup of cleaned sukkale sungata/ sun-dried prawns (head and tail part removed) in plenty of water to remove all dust particles if any. Then soak it in hot water in a vessel and keep it aside covered for about 20-30 minutes. Drain off the water, wash it again well with plenty of water, drain and keep this ready aside. Do check out the picture collage shared below for step by step guidance/ procedure of cleaning and preparing the sukkale sungata/ sun dried fish properly.
** For the Masala : Heat 1 tsp oil/tel in a small kadai. Add 1tsp of urad dal (black gram dal) and fry till the color changes lightly, now add in 2 tsp of coriander seeds (dhani/ kothimbir) and fry till a little bit color changes, add in 6-8 Red chillies (Kashmiri/ Bydgi/ Kumte chillies) further fry for a minute or two, Do not over fry the ingredients or else the curry with turns bitter in taste, so fry all under minimum or medium heat and do not leave unattended.
** Remove and put the above fried ingredients into a mixer grinder with about approximately 1 cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) and a small marble sized tamarind (chinchama/ imly). Grind to a paste with little bit of water, do not add more water as we need a semi coarsely ground textured thick masala. You can use the cluster beans cooked water for grinding which we what most of us do while grinding masala.
** Now add the pressure cooked cluster beans and the prepared and kept aside dried prawns into a thick bottomed kadai/ pan along with any leftover cooked water from cluster beans. If there is no water left in the pan or you have used all while grinding the masala, then add about ¼ cup of water to bean and prawns, mix well, cover and cook for 5 minutes stirring in between and sprinkling water if necessary so that the prawns gets cooked.
** Now add in ground masala to cooked ingredients along with salt (nnamak/ meeta) to taste and mix well. Bring to heat on medium heat mixing often and adding in water only if necessary. Cover and cook on low heat till well done and you see slow fire till bubbles appearing on top surface of the curry. Keep checking and stirring in between and when done remove from fire and keep it aside covered.
** For Tempering/ Seasoning : Heat 1 tblsp coconut oil/ tel in a small pan, when hot add in 1 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ sasam) and when it starts spluttering, lower the heat and then add a 8-10 curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu) and fry for a minute. Remove, pour the seasoning over the prepared and kept cluster bean- dried prawns sukke/ curry and cover with lid and keep it aside for some time for the flavors to seep into the curry well, you can mix it well just before serving and if too dry, add some boiling water and mix well just before serving.
** "Mitkesanga- Sukkale Sungta Sukke (Cluster Beans- Dried Prawns Semi Dry Curry" is done and ready to be served. You can serve this as side dish hot with Dal-Rice along with any other accompaniments or Roti/ Parathas etc. or any other dishes of your choice. This dish is definitely for dried fish lovers, so try it out if you are a fish lover and like sun dried prawns. They have a unique taste of their own that imparts it to the veggies too when added along with them and makes it all together that more delicious.
** Sharing a common link to all “Sukke” type dishes posted in the blog before both vegetarian and non- vegetarian that you can browse through in leisure and try out the same and enjoy with your family and friends …
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Thanks.