“Vali- Seemedbadanekayi Ambat (Malabar Spinach- Chow Chow Curry with Onion Seasoning” … a delicious spicy curry with a slight sweetis tinge from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine … the aromatic onion seasoning is what tastes this curry to a different level … prepared usually with vali and raw papaya, I tried the same with chayote squash/ chow chow and it turned fantastic … usually served with rice, however, I love this one with roti/ chapati/ paratha/ panpolo as it has a sweet tinge to it also … Yummilicious …
** Vali/ Basale/ Malabar Spinach is a leafy creeper vegetable extensively grown in most parts of India. These are green palm sized oval shaped leaves with thick stems climbing plant. It is known under various common names, including Pui, vine spinach, red vine spinach, climbing spinach, creeping spinach, buffalo spinach, Malabar spinach etc. Both the tender stems and the leaves are used while preparing the curry. We GSB Saraswats are highly partial towards this vegetable. These are grown even in the backyard of the houses by making provision of small sticks for the plant to support climbing. If the leaves are very large, the same can be prepared into rolls by applying masala, cut to slices and then deep fried, tastes great.
** We GSB Saraswat’s prepare mainly two types of dishes out of these ie ambat and bendi. For Ambat churned dal, dried prawns, raw papaya or any other veggies are added and seasoned with onions, while bendi is prepared by using only masala with Vali and seasoning it with garlic. I have already posted a few of both Veg and Non.Veg preparations and I must mention here that our most favorite ones is with addition of dry prawns. There is a minute change made when prepared with addition of papaya or other veggie by addition of a little bit of gur/ goda/ jaggery to the curry while rest of the recipe remains the same. Try out this dish if you find malabar spinach in your vicinity, you will never regret it, but will prepare it often and enjoy with your family.
** I must mention here that this recipe is traditionally prepared with Vali (Malabar Spinach/ Basale) and Harve Popashpala (Raw Papaya) in GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine. This dish is loved most by elderly generations as younger ones do not prefer sweetish tinge it imparts, the very reason why this curry is becoming a rare one these days. My mamama (maternal grandmother) loved this curry very much and so does my amma (mother). In my home too this dish is prepared only once or twice a year as we prefer the one with inclusion of dry prawns. But, I always insists that we should follow our traditional dishes by preparing them at least once in a year, that way we will be passing on our culture and traditions to coming generation which otherwise will be lost.
** Here is my recipe for “Vali- Seemedbadanekayi Ambat (Malabar Spinach- Chow Chow Curry with Onion Seasoning” from traditional GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine ....
** Ingredients :
Seemebadanekayi/ Chayote Squash/ Chow Chow : 1 about 250-300 gms.
Vali/ Malabar Spinach/ Basale : one bunch
Jaggery/ Goda/ Gur : 25-30 gms grated/ powder
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** For Masala to be Ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 2 cups freshly ground.
Kashmiri Red Chilly/ Kumte Mirsanaga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 8-10
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : one small marble sized ball
** For Tempering/ Seasoning/ Pannaka/ Tadka :
Onions/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 2 large sized.
Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 3-4 tablespoon
** Slice/ peel of the skin on seemebadanekayi/ chow chow with knife or potato peeler as thinly as possible. Remove the innermost inedible white tender seed and discard it. Now cut the firm white fleshly part of seemebadanekayi into medium sized cubes of about approximate one inch in size. Wash and keep it ready aside.
** Peel off the skin and chop onions finely and keep them aside ready.
** Wash and chop the leaves of one large bunch of Vali/ Malabar Spinach finely. You should have 8-10 cups of chopped leaves. Cut stems into 3 inch pieces, say about 2 cups. Rinse them both together in a colander under running water. Put chopped vali leaves and stems into a pressure cooker pan along with 2 cups of water.
** Pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle, lower the heat to minimum and let cook for 5-7 minutes, raise the heat again to medium and cook to 2 more whistles. Remove and keep aside and allow pressure drop on its own. When cooled and able to remove the lid, remove and add cooked vali into a vessel with the cooked water.
** To be ground to a fine paste : Grind coconut with tamarind and Kashmiri Red Chilly (+/- depending upon individual preference) with water to a very fine and thick paste. You can use the vali cooked water here for grinding masala, which is what I do most of the time. Remove and keep this aside ready.
** Now add seemebadanekayi pieces to vali in vessel and bring to a boil on medium heat, lower the heat and cook till seemebadanekayi is 80% cooked. Add ground paste, ½ of the chopped onions (leave rest for seasoning), jaggery, salt to taste and mix well. Cook on medium heat till you see bubbles appearing on surface, stirring a few times in between to avoid masala getting stuck to the bottom.
** Check out the thickness of the curry and add more water if necessary to bring the curry to a thick consistency. Simmer the curry for 5-7 minutes on low heat, stirring often till well heated and done. Remove and keep aside while we proceed with seasoning.
** Prepare the Seasoning/ Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : Add remaining chopped onion in a small pan with oil and fry on medium heat till evenly golden brown. Keep stirring to avoid onions being burnt in some places. Remove and pour over the curry and mix well. Cover and keep curry aside for 30 minutes for flavors to seep in.
** “Vali-Seemedbadanekayi Ambat (Malabar Spinach- Chow Chow Curry with Onion Seasoning” is done and ready to be served. Traditional ambat is served with Red boiled Rice or plain rice or any other medium spiced rice dishes in most of the GSB Konkani Saraswat homes as rice is their daily staple. However you can serve as a side dish with any other accompaniment of your choice. Tastes great with Idly, khotto, Dosa, Appo, panpolo too, it tastes great. However in my home we love to relish it at times with parathas as being slightly sweetish tinged it tastes great.
** Sharing common link to “Ambat Recipes” both Veg and Non.Veg. below, along with link to Vali- Popashpala Ambat (Malabar Spinach- Raw Papaya Curry with Onion Seasoning) which is similar to this curry, you can check out the same too ….
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