“Chano- Keerlu- Ambade Sukke (Whole Black Bengal Gram- Bamboo Shoots- Hogplum Curry)” … simple sukke from traditional Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared during monsoon while it’s the season of keerlu and ambado … tastes awesome served with chapathi/ roti or dal-chawal … Yummilicious ....
** Sukke as you all know is a semi dry consistency side dish from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared almost in every home in combo of different ingredients. As it’s monsoon, I prepare more dishes with those veggies available during the season and here is a sukke prepared with monsoon delicacies along with chano. Try it out and enjoy with family and friends.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Chano- Keerlu- Ambade Sukke (Whole Black Bengal Gram- Bamboo Shoots- Hogplum Curry)” … traditional Konkani Saraswat Style …
** Ingredients :
Chano/ Whole Black Bengal Gram : 1 heaped cup
Keerlu/ Bamboo Shoots : about 10 pieces.
Ambado/ Hogplum : 4-5
Urad dal/ Black gram dal: 2 tsp
Coriander Seeds (Dhania/ Kothimbir) : 1 tblsp
Coconut/ Soyi : 1 heaped cup freshly grated.
Red Kashmiri Chillies (Kumte mirsanaga/ Byadgi Mirchi) : 8-10
Jaggery (Goda/ Gud) : 25-30 gms grated
Salt (Namak/ Meeta) : to taste.
Oil/ Tel : 1-2 tsp
** For Tempering :
Oil/ Tel : 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds (Rai/ Sasam) : 1 tsp
Curry leaves (Kadipatta/ Karbevu) : 10-12
** Wash and soak chano/ whole black Bengal gram in plenty of water overnight or at least for minimum 6-8 hours. Soaking of grams/ whole pulses is a must as they increase in size, soften a bit, easy to cook and for digestion too, so always make it habit to preplan the dishes if using grams and see that you soak them.
** Wash and soak in plenty of water about 10 pieces of keerlu/ bamboo shoots of 1.5 inch size in length and ½ inch width. You can use the brine one’s too in which case soak them in water overnight or change water twice or thrice to remove excess salt content in it. As it is the season of fresh bamboo shoot, I have used fresh tender ones for this recipe.
** Wash, wipe dry ambado/ hogplums, slice off the stem side portion slightly and then with the help of small stone or weight or in pestle crush it to two pieces or if the seed within is formed just crush it well and keep it aside. If you are using very tender hogplums, they can be easily cut into three or pieces lengthwise, you may chose anyway you like to do it.
** Wash and rinse well the soaked chano again and then add it into a pressure cooker with water, say about 2 inches above the level of chanas and pressure cook on medium heat to 2 whistles, lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes, then raise the heat and again cook to 1 whistle. Chano takes time to cook and the timings too differ sometimes depending upon the size of the chano and the quality, so check and cook accordingly.
** Keep the pressure cooker aside and allow the pressure in the cooker to fall on itself. Once you are able to open the lid, do so gently and add in 2 cups of clean water to the cooked chana and mix well. Now strain the chana cooked water gently by titling the vessel into another vessel. We will be using only the chana for this recipe and the cooked water can be used in preparing saar by adding on tomatoes etc. which is what we always do.
** Note : Do not discard the drained cooked water. You can either use it immediately to prepare saar with the addition of tomatoes and spices or you can store it in the fridge once it has cooled down and prepare the saar the next day. In case you are not interested in preparing the saar do not add in the above mentioned water to the cooked grams as there won’t be much of it, just drain the excess and use it for grinding the masala. You can check out the preparation of saar elsewhere in the Blog using search or label option.
** After removing most of the cooked water add in some fresh water say about a cup or so and add the keerlu/ bamboo shoots to it and once again pressure cook to 2 whistles. Here you can pressure cook the keerlu separately too in which case see to it that the chano is cooked well, remove and keep it aside and then add in only keerlu and pressure cook. The point here is to get perfectly good chano and keerlu as they both differ in cooking time, hence I prefer cooking chano for few whistles and then adding on keerlu to further cook till both and done perfectly well, you may follow any method suitable to you.
** Wash, wipe well the ambado/ hogplum and then slice off the stem side portion and crush it with a small heavy stone to get a smashed affect, this is how we saraswats use them often. However, if they are tender you can cut them lengthwise into 2 or 4 pieces too and if not tender too, you can slice the sides and use the same along with center seeds, whichever way you desire or are used to. Do try crushing it and using in curry, my Mom loves it that way.
** To be ground into a semi coarse masala : Heat oil in a small kadai. Add urad dal and fry until colour changes slightly, now add in coriander seeds and continue to fry till color changes slightly. Lastly add in the Red chillies and fry for a minute. Remove and add this all into a mixer grinder along with freshly grated coconut and grind to a smooth paste. The paste need not be to fine in consistency. Remove and keep the masala ready aside.
** Note : If you are not using ambado/ hogplum in curry or you do not get them, do not worry you can add a small marble sized tamarind while grinding the masala. I use ambado only when in season otherwise I too add on tamarind. In southern parts of India bimbul is available which can also be used in place of ambado, however I have no access to it here in Mumbai.
** Note : You can use the pressure cooked ingredients water for grinding of the masala which is what most of us do. Remember to never discard veggies cooked water, always try to use minimum water while cooking or grinding as you can always add it later on as and if necessary. Otherwise the changes of the gravy turning out coarser and thinner is more likely.
** In a thick bottomed kadai/ pan add in cooked chano, keerlu, crushed hogplum, ground masala and mix well. Check consistency, add water as required and mix well, add in water or cooked chana water if there is more of it. Heat the curry well on medium flame, stirring often till bubbles appear on surface. Now, lower the heat to minimum and add grated jaggery, salt to taste and mix well. Cook well until the jaggery has melted and the masala has been thoroughly heated by simmering a little bit stirring often in between.
** For Tempering : Heat oil in a small pan, when hot add in mustard seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves and fry a bit then pour it over the curry mix well and let cook for 2-3 minutes and then remove from fire and keep it aside covered for a good 20-30 minutes for the flavors to seep in and for the curry/ sukke to get settled.
** “Chano-Keerlu- Ambade Sukke (Whole Black Bengal Gram- Bamboo Shoots- Hogplum Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Serve as sidedish along with other dishes as an accompaniment. It goes very well served with chapatti/ roti or Dalitoy-rice along with a few other dishes. In case you want to serve it chapatti, do keep the gravy thicker.
** Note : On resting the curry dries up well, if too dry, you can add some hot water and mix it up well before serving. The texture usually is as that you see in the picture posted, but at times in many homes they prefer to have a little bit of thinner gravy to be served along with rice as it does taste great too, it is individual choice.
** Do try out this delicious dish and relish the same with your family and friends. I am also sharing below a common link to other "Sukke" items posted before in the blog and you can check out for the same and prepare this dish in various other veggie combinations too.
** You can check out the article on “Keerlu/ Bamboo Shoots” and more recipes with addition of the same here, so also the brine method …
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