“Peach Godi Upkari (Sweet- Spicy Curry)” … I rarely buy peaches and to my dismay they turned out bland in taste, cheppe chara kone kauche … well, no food wastage is my mantra always … I had prepared godi upkari with a few fruits like peaches, plums etc. a few years back, this time as the plums were not sweet by themselves, I added on some ambe rosu/ mango pulp, a little bit more jaggery and prepared godi upkari with those peaches … guess what??? they gelled with each other like long lost friends and turned out into a delicious upkari with mango tinged flavor … Yummilicious …
** I am really not much of a peaches fan as whenever I bought them I ended up getting bland ones except for a few times. So frankly how sweet the peaches are is really beyond my imaginations and hoping that I do come across some really good ones. This time too I bought them out of pity as the fruit vendor was requesting to do so. Well, I knew I would not waste them and would come out with something to do about it if they turned bland.
** And to my luck they turned just that bland and tasteless, we ate a few sprinkles some sugar and nutmeg powder etc. but then I still had many and was thinking was ways to do something about it. Though Jam popped up most of the time in my mind, I was really not in a mood as I already had some stock of jams, pickles etc. in fridge which we hardly ate and did not want add on more. I was wondering what to do when I came up with this solution out of the blue.
** I had prepared it ages back and it was utter flop as that time I had used the peach flesh portion itself for the sweetened gravy and no one liked it much, after which I never tried it. But the one I tried with plum, ages back had been successful and had been prepared many times over the year, so thought why not give another try this time giving a twist by adding on mango pulp to make it tastier, at least that way we would definitely eat it for sure.
** Once I had chalked out the procedure there was no looking back and it was done and over within an good hour and was a surprise to hubby who was very happy. Lol not sure if it was for the dish or with relief that the peaches were somehow done and over with. Whatever we finished off the peaches without a murur. But, had the peaches been sweet and tasty I assure you it would have raised the bar of outcome by many more inches of height for sure.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Peach Godi Upkari (Sweet- Spicy Curry)” … my very own concoction of recipe … If you find sweet peaches, then try this one out with addition of mango, as they both compliment each other very well and you can serve them either at room temperature or slightly cold too …
** Peel off the outer skin of the peaches and keep them ready aside. I have used six peaches in all. You may use as many as you require for serving.
** Peel off the outer skin of two large sized sweet ripe mangoes/ ambo and squeeze out the edible flesh portion as much as possible. Put it into a blender and grind to a smooth puree and keep it also ready aside.
** In a thick bottomed stainless steel vessel add in about 3 cups of water and bring to boil. Once it come to boil, lower the heat and add in the peaches and let cook on medium to low heat stirring gently often till the peaches are 70% cooked.
** Add mango juice, 2 cups of water, mix well and let cook on medium heat. When it comes to a boil, add 5-6 slit green chillies/ Hari michi/ tarni mirsanga along with 1 cup of grated or powdered jaggery/ gud/ goda, mix well and bring to a boil mixing in between.
** Note : If too thick you can add some water and if not sweet you can add in some more of jaggery powder. Both depend upon the selection of the ingredients used, so use your judgement and add on accordingly.
** The curry is prepared exactly on ambe upkari basis to which also I will add the link at the bottom of this recipe, so that you can check out the traditional method of preparing the same.
** The curry will be on thinner but sweeter side and will have to be thickened with cornflour mixture to get the desired glazed thickening affect and taste for the curry, so do not worry if the curry is on thinner texture side initially.
** Once the curry is cooked well and the peaches are also cooked completely, lower the heat and let simmer. Meanwhile add in 3 tblsp of cornflour to one cup of water and mix well. See to it that there are no lumps, add this to the simmering curry and immediately mix well.
** Note : Cornflour here is added as an thickening agent to bring in the glazed thick consistency to the curry. Traditional maida was used and many in hometown still do so. However, I have always used cornflour for ambe upkari too and do the same for all. You can go ahead and add in maida prepared in the same way as cornflour too.
** Keep stirring the curry as it thickens due to the inclusion of cornflour or maid if you have used. Do not raise the heat, as the thickening agent whichever used needs to be cooked well too and high heat just does not work well. When thickened and done remove from fire and keep it aside covered for some time while we prepare for the seasoning of the curry.
** For Seasoning/ Tempering : Heat 2 tsp of coconut oil/ narlel tela/ nariyal tel (I have used coconut oil, you may use any edible oil) in a small pan, when hot add in 1 tsp of mustard seeds (rai/ sasam) when they they begin to splutter add in 8-10 curry leaves, fry for a few seconds and then pour it over the simmering curry.
** Remove from fire and keep it aside covered for the flavors to seep in well and get infused. This curry is a side dish and is not served hot but at room temperature, so just before serving time check out the consistency and add in potable room temperature water if necessary.
** “Peach Godi Upkari (Sweet- Spicy Curry)” is done and ready to be served. As mentioned above, this is a sweet curry sort of dessert dish that is not served hot and is always served towards the end of the lunch/ dinner at room temperature. So enjoy them as dessert with your meals on weekends or surprise your guests with this one if your are arranging for a potluck or a small get together party.
** For all Konkani Saraswats who are well versed with ambe upkari, you will find that the recipe is the same except for the variation of inclusion of ripe peaches. Do try it out, if peaches are available in your vicinity and enjoy with your family and friends, I am sure like me you too will find it a better option to use the peaches which at least in India most of the time turn out bland and tasteless unlike other delicious sweet fruits.
** For the recipe of “Ambe Upkari” along with another link where is a few other similar dishes are available too, please check out the links given below ….
** The same recipe I had tried years back with “Plums” which turned out excellent in taste, you may check out that recipe and try them when plums are in season too ….
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