“Mixed Vegetable Sukke” … sukke is a semi dry side dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine served during meals … here is a simple take off of the same dish, but with mixed veggies … tastes delicious served with dalitoy- rice/ chapati/ roti/ dosa/ prathas … Yummilicious ….
** I have often shared “Sukke” in various combinations in this blog and I can assure you that there will definitely be more as this one is a very versatile dish that I recommend can be served both with dalitoy (spiced dal) and rice (chawal) or with roti/ chapatti/ paratha/ dosa etc. This is one of the most desired traditional semi dry masala side dish prepared in almost every GSB Konkani Saraswats home of my community using seasonal veggies or any other as is available.
** I must mention here that I was a late learner of eating food properly as during childhood I never ate anything that was spicy. Despite Amma’s warnings, I quietly ate my chawal either with milk (doodah sheetHa) or a little bit of dal and absolutely no accompaniment except fish fries which definitely were my favorite, off course they still are. Then what did I eat??? I guess, all that was unhealthy never realizing the lifelong consequences it would lead to.
** Decades back there was no awareness on healthy habits of food etc. and we just enjoyed tasty food that were often loaded with calories. It was much later that I began to eat proper food and changed my habits though I am still far away from being on the right side. In order to make food more interesting while keeping to the basics, I began experimenting with our own food and when they turned out excellent was encouraged to try out more.
** Coming to “sukke” as I have already mentioned many times, anything more will be only repetition of the same. Here, I have tried out the dish with a combination of tendle (ivy gourd/ gherkins), carrot (gajar) and potato (batato/ aloo) and it turned awesome and tasted great served with chapatti/ roti. I am also sharing a common link to all sukke recipes posted in blog at the bottom of this recipe, do browse through in leisure and try them out.
** Here is my recipe for ... “Mixed Vegetable Sukke” my style …
** Ingredients :
Carrot/ Gajar : 250 gms.
Potato/ Batata/ Aloo : 3 medium sized
Tendle (Ivy Gourd/ Gherkins/ Tondekayi) : 250 gms.
Salt/ Namak/ MeetHa : to taste
** Masala to be Ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : 1 heaped cup freshly grated.
Red Kashmiri Chillies/ Kumte Mirsanga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 8-10
Urad dal/ Black Gram Dal : 2 tsp
Coriander Seeds/ Kothimbir/ Dhania : 1 tblsp
Methi seeds/ Fenugreek seeds : ½ tsp (Optional, I have added)
Tamarind/ Imly/ Chinchama : one large marble sized / say about 1 tsp
Oil/ Tel/ Tela : 1-2 tsp
** For Tempering/ Seasoning/ Tadka/ Pannaka :
Coconut Oil/ Nariyal Tel/ Narlel Tela : 1 tblsp
Mustard Seeds/ Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp
Curry leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 10-12 fresh ones
** Peel outer skin of carrot and potato, wash, cut them to ½ inch sized cubes and keep it ready. Wash tendle properly as there is often dirt stuck to them. Then slice off both the side edges. Cut them vertically into two and then horizontally also so that you get small cubes of the same. Just see to it that all three veggies cut are of almost equal size.
** Add cut veggies into a pressure cooker pan along with 1 cup of water and cook on medium heat to one whistle. Let rest for 5 minutes after which slowly with the help of tongs release the pressure from cooker, open the lid and let cool. Releasing the pressure helps in arresting further cooking of the ingredients and given evenly cooked veggies.
** Note : I use pressure cooker method, if you are not comfortable with it or do not want to try it out for any reason just add them into a vessel/ kadai with water and cook on high till you see it boiling well, after which you can lower the level and cook covered checking out a few times till all the veggies are perfectly cooked and done, do not overcook.
** Masala to be Ground : Heat oil in a pan, add urad dal, let fry a bit, when the colour changes slightly reddish add methi seeds, wait for a second and then add in coriander seeds and continue frying till it changes color. Lastly add the Red chillies and fry for a minute or two. Be careful and do not burn any ingredients or the curry will taste bitter.
** Remove and add fried ingredients into a mixer grinder along with freshly grated coconut and grind to a fine rava textured paste using water sparingly. You can use the veggies cooked water for grinding of masala which is what I do while grinding any masala. Remember, the paste should not be very fine or too coarse, just say 90% smooth.
** Remove and add the ground masala to the cooked veggies in a kadai or pan along with salt to taste and mix well. Check out the consistency of the curry and add in more water only if necessary. Remember this is a semi thick curry so be careful with addition of water, you can always add in later while serving if you find the curry too dry.
** Let the curry cook on medium heat until you see bubbles appearing on surface. Lower the heat to minimum and cook covered for another 5-8 minutes until the curry is evenly cooked and done. All through the cooking remember to keep stirring it gently in between to avoid the curry being burnt or stuck to the bottom as it is thicker in consistency.
** For Tempering/ Tadka/ Pannaka: Heat oil in a small pan, when hot add in mustard seeds, when they begin to splutter add curry leaves and fry a bit then pour it over the curry mix well and let cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from fire and keep it aside covered for a good 20-30 minutes for the flavors to get infused well into the curry.
** Note : On resting the curry dries up well, if too dry, you can sprinkle 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 thick gravy for sukke in which case you can keep the texture slightly thicker too, it is individual choice.
** “Mixed Vegetable Sukke” is done and ready to be served. This is a semi dry dish that tastes best served as a side dish along with other dishes as an accompaniment. It goes very well when served with Dalitoy (spiced tuvar dal) and SheetHa (rice) along with some salad or bajias too. You can also serve it with roti/ chapati/ parathas too in which case, do keep in the texture of curry thicker for better taste.
** I encourage all my friends to include more of their own traditional dishes into their eating habits. Our ancestors prepared them in right proportions and handed them all easy and done in a platter to us and we must be grateful for it and not shun that food. Off course, one should enjoy other types of meals too after all everybody needs a change from routine. However, always remember to keep in with your roots for a healthy lifestyle and hand down the same for your family for generations to come.
** 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.
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Thanks.