“Vatano- Batate Saar-Upkari (Green Peas- Potato Curry)” … here is a simple-tasty easy to prepare, hing flavored saar-upkari/ patla bhaji that can be served for lunch/ dinner along with other dishes … Yummilicious …
** Here is a simple dish from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared and served with rice in place of dal or saar. Saar-Upkari is nothing but whole pulses cooked, seasoned and served wherein the consistency is thinner in texture. This is very healthy option for those who want a change from just plain saar or dal as you can serve it with rice with or without any other side dishes too. You can prepare them as it is with pulses or add on some veggies too. Again, seasoning is also a matter of choice you can use hing or garlic and they taste equally great.
** There are many types of saar upkari prepared with pulses, the most famous ones being tingalavro, kulith, red bean etc. In fact, you can prepare them with most of the whole pulses soaking them overnight or for 6-8 hours, pressure cooking them and later on seasoning the same. They all taste great and for today I prepared the saar upkari with dried green peas which is another one of our favorite at home. I seved it with tambdi bhajji (red Amaranth leaves) upkari and pagila podi (spine gourd fries) and it was simply a wonderful meal.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Vatano- Batate Saar-Upkari (Green Peas- Potato Curry)” traditional Konkani Saraswat/ GSB style ….
** Wash and soak in plenty of water about 2 cups of Dried Green Peas/ Vatano overnight or for at least 8 hours. Drain off the water and rinse under running water and then put it in pressure cooker pan. Add sufficient water say about an inch level above the layer of peas and pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle after which lower the heat and let cook for about 5 minutes. Once again, raise the heat to medium and cook to 1-2 whistles and remove from fire and keep aside for the pressure to fall on its own.
** Note : The pressure cooking period at times differs from variety of peas used depending upon the stocking date. So, please check by cooking for just a whistle if necessary and then further cook as is necessary.
** Peel off the skin of 2 medium sized Potatoes ( Aloo/ Batato) and cut them into one inch sized cubes. Add this along with the pressure cooked green peas into a vessel with about 2-3 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. Then lower the heat and cook till the potatoes are just done. Do not overcook the potatoes as they will not taste good but will also break down and thicken the curry too much, so be careful. Add in the hing water, say about 1 tablespoon or as much as you like and salt to taste mix well and let the saar upkari simmer while we go ahead with the preparation of seasoning.
** Note : You can add prepared and kept hing/ asafoeitda water or hing powder for the curry depending on what you use regularly at home. I am sharing the method of preparing hing water at the bottom of this recipe, I have used it for the recipe, however if you do not have it you can always add hing powder to the oil while seasoning too. However, just a suggestion, try out the aromatic hing water once like how we GSB people do and you will never go back to addition of powder form unless it is necessary for particular dishes.
** For Seasoning/ Tempering : Heat 1 tblsp of Coconut Oil (Narlela Tela/ Nariyal Tel) in a small pan, when hot lower the heat and add in 1 tsp of Mustard seeds (Rai/ Sasam) when they begin to splutter add in 8-10 Curry Leaves (Kadipatta/ Karbevu) and 4-5 Dry Red Chillies (Sukki Mirsanga/ Laal Mirchi) cut into pieces, fry for a few seconds and pour this over the simmer saar- upkari. If using hing powder then add it also about ½ to 1 tsp depending upon the aroma into the hot oil. However, if you have used the hing water then please do not add in the powder. You need to chose any one form of the two, so please be careful.
** Cover the saar- upkari and keep it aside to settle and the flavors to get infused within for about 20 minutes or so. Check out the consistency of the saar upkari before serving and add in hot water and mix well if you need to thin out the curry. The saar upkari prepared out of pulses and with addition of potatoes always thickens on resting so do check it out. However, never add excess water initially, it is always safer to add it on later as required while serving.
** “Vatano- Batate Saar-Upkari (Green Peas- Potato Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Wasn’t that quick and easy to prepare, so do try this out and enjoy with hot rice as it tastes best served so, but then if you want to serve with roti or poori, you may do so, in which case keep the consistency/ thickness slightly thicker than when to be served with rice. Do try out this simple recipe and enjoy with your family and friends. It is always a pleasure to relish different types of simple dishes in place of the regular dal or saar etc. Also by including different types of pulses etc. in simple ways you will be consuming most of the nutrients needed by the body by doing so.
** For Preparing of Hing / Asafoetida Water From Gummy Hing : Hing water is prepared by putting a small marble sized gummy hing (available in South Indian Stores) into a glass bottle and adding about a small cup of boiled and cooled water to it. Within a few hours the hing will slowly melt and you will get a thick whitish liquid. This is hing water. You can keep this in the fridge and use sparingly as and when needed. We GSB / Saraswat Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other humman etc. If you do not have the gummy hing, no issues, you can add hing / asafoetida powder in which case always add it into the hot oil while tempering to get a good aroma.
** There are many more types of “Saar-Upkari” posted in my Blog, to which I am sharing a common link below, do browse through and try them out in leisure ….
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Thanks.