“Black Peas- Dried Prawns Malvani Masala Curry” ... a very spicy~ delicious curry prepared with kala vatana along with dry sukat fish (sukkale sungata) that tastes awesome served with simple flavored rice/ Mumbai pav/ roti/ parathas/ panpolo ... I served it with “Nachani- Wheat Tadoori Tava Roti” which is my twist to normal tandoori roti and the combo turned out excellent … Yummilicious ...
** Here is a delicious dish I prepared using black peas/ kala vatana along with dried prawns (sukat/ sukkale sungata), my own mix-n-match combination of ingredients. Around 6 months back I had prepared the same curry but without the addition of dried prawns and we loved it very much and hubby casually mentioned that I should have added dried prawns too. The thought had stuck into my mind and I was waiting for an opportunity to do so. And yes, here it is more tastier than the previous one, but definitely only for dry fish lovers.
** I will share the link to that recipe at the end of this one and for those of you who are vegetarians can follow that and enjoy with the tandoori roti too. I have not made any changes in this recipe and stuck to it as I had prepared the previous one. Malvani masala I used is store bought as we get good ones and I find it unnecessary exercise to prepare as our consumption is less. Hence, I prefer buying small stocks of freshly prepared powders from stores which retains both quality and aroma when done so.
** Here is my own recipe of “Black Peas- Dried Prawns Malvani Masala Curry” ... My Style, do try it out if you love dried prawns/ sungata/ sukkat like us …
** Wash and soak 2 cups of black peas/ kala vatana overnight or for 8 hours. Wash well once again and then add in pressure cooker along with water about an inch above the level of peas and pressure cook on medium heat to 5 whistles.
** If the pressure is too much, then you can keep the heat on low level allow it to cook on low and then raise the heat to medium and take 5-7 whistles too. When the pressure falls down, open the lid, check out if the peas are cooked if not take another few whistles.
** Note : black peas/ kala vatana does not cook fast or easily so soaking is a must and pressure cooking it to more whistles too. So, you need time to prepare this one.
** Pick, clean, remove tail, head, legs of dried prawns/ sukkale sungata/ sukat if any, wash them in plenty of water to remove all dirt, dust etc. Soak them in lukewarm water covered for 20-25 mins. The prawns will be softened and get nicely puffed a bit. Drain and rinse it well and it is ready for use.
Pictures of “Sukkale Sungata/ Dried Prawns”
picked, cleaned, wash, soaked and ready for using.
** Remove cooked black vatana into another vessel and in the same pressure cooker pan add ready to use dried prawns with some cooked water from the vatanas. Cook on medium heat to one whistle only, when cool, open and add them to the cooked vatana and mix well.
** To be ground : Peel out the skin of one large onion (piyavu/ kanda), 8-10 garlic (losun/ lehesun) and an inch of ginger (adrak/ alle'). Cut them into pieces and put it in mixer grinder and grind to a fine paste without adding water. Remove and keep it aside ready.
** Heat in a thick bottomed kadai/ pan 1 cup of khopra/ khobre/ dry coconut and roast on medium heat till the color changes slightly remove from fire add in 1 cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ Nariyal), mix well, fry for 2 mins, remove and keep it aside ready.
** Add 1 tblsp oil/ tel in the same kadai, when hot, lower the heat, add 1 tsp of cus cus, fry for a minute, then add 1 tsp jeera (cumin) powder, 2 tsp of dhania (coriander/ kothimbir) powder, ½ tsp of fennel (badishep/saunf) powder, 1 tsp of goda masala or garam masala powder, 1 tsp of red kashmiri chilly powder and fry for few seconds.
** To this add prepared and kept aside coconut mixture and fry them all together for a minute or two and remove from fire. Add this into mixer grinder along with a small lemon sized ball tamarind (chincham/ Imly) and grind to a smooth paste with little bit of water. The masala should be ground thick but fine. When done, remove and keep this ready aside.
** Heat 3-4 tblsp of oil/ tel and 1 tblsp of toop/ ghee in a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add just a pinch of mustard seeds (rai/ sasam) which is optional and when it just splutters add in one finely chopped onion (piyavu/ kanda) and fry till translucent. Now add in 8-10 fresh curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu) and fry for another minute or so.
** Now add prepared and kept ginger garlic onion paste and further fry until the rawness goes and color changes slightly on low to medium heat. Be careful, it may get stuck to bottom, to avoid getting burnt add in 1/2 tsp of salt/ namak/ meeta this helps in releasing the water in onion and helps in frying well, this trick I learnt watching Sanjeev Kapoor the famous chef’s TV shows 3 decades back and trust me it works.
** Add 3-4 tblsp of malvani masala powder (I used store bought) and fry for a minute and then add in the ground masala, mix well and further fry on medium to low heat, stirring often till well fried, say about 5 minutes. The frying steps are always necessary and the very reason for bringing out the taste in dishes. If you find it sticking to the vessel you can add in some oil, you can use a non stick pan for cooking if you want to cut down oil.
** When the masala is done well, it will give out a wonderful aroma, at that time add in the cooked and kept black peas- dried prawns along with the water in which it is cooked, if any and another 2 cups of hot water, salt (namak/ meeta) to taste, mix well and bring to a rolling boil on medium heat. Be careful with addition of salt as we had already added some at various stages, otherwise it may turn out salty in taste towards the end.
** Once the curry boils well, lower the heat to minimum and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes. Keep stirring in between to avoid it being burnt and add in extra water if needed using your judgment. The curry turns out into a lovely reddish tinge as it simmers giving out a splendid aroma. Remember to simmer the curry well and not take short cuts, the malvani masala added to the curry needs to be cooked well for the curry to attain the taste well.
** Finally, add about half cup of cleaned, finely chopped coriander leaves (kothambari pallo/ dhania) and mix well. Once again cover the curry and cook for another 5 minutes on minimum heat, mixing well in between. Lastly add in 2 tblsp of homemade loni/ butter on top of the curry (Optional), remove from fire, cover with tight lid and let it rest for 15-20 minutes for flavors to seep in well before you serve it to your family or guests.
** Note : All those who follow my blog must have often come across addition of butter/ loni in most of my spicy based garam masala curries. This step may be skipped if not desired or ghee replaced in place of butter too. I have been doing so for over 3 decades now and it has never harmed us, I find that addition of butter at this step enhances the flavor, texture, glaze and taste of the curry and it is just simply awesome, do check it out yourself.
** “Black Peas- Dried Prawns Malvani Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. Check out thickness of curry just before serving and if you find the curry too thick, you may add in some hot boiling water to bring to desired consistency. This curry tastes best with any type of roti/ pav/ mildly spiced rice dishes. I served it with “Nachani- Wheat Tadoori Tava Roti” another of my very own recipe and the combo was simply awesome.
** The recipe of “Nachani- Wheat Tadoori Tava Roti” my own method of roti is shared in the blog after this recipe, however I am sharing a link below when done with edition, for those of you who would love to try it out and find it difficult to search for the same …..
** Sharing link to “Malvani Black Peas (Kala Vatana) Curry” Recipe, this
only difference in recipe in the one above is addition of dried prawns, so for
those of you who are vegetarians and would love to try out the curry, do follow
the following link ….
** Sharing a common link to “Dried Prawns” recipes in my blog below, which you can browse through and try them in leisure, if you love them like we do in my home, you can use the search option with key words or use the labels to reach out for more recipes ….
https://gayathrifoodbytes.blogspot.com/search?q=dried+prawns
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