“Kooka- Dahi Gojju (Chinese Potato Curd Salad)” … The joy of finding something you had completely forgotten about is immense … I was delighted to find that the kooka which I had stored and completely forgotten about was still edible, I had to chuck off a few as they had softened, while about a dozen were still in perfect condition … prepared gojju adding homemade skimmed milk curds to be served with moth bean- rice- pumpkin khichidi for lunch … definitely a wonderful- tasty combination of heart-warming meal … Yummilicious ....
** Sometimes nature throws small surprises at you which is beyond ones imagination. When I found the kooka/ chinese potatoes which I had kept aisde and completely forgotten, still edible, it really took me by surprise. I mean the fresh ones when bought too at times do not last more than a few weeks and here it was question of almost 4 months. I guess I was lucky this time, I just prepared simple gojju as I did not want to waste them by further storing awary and forgetting it only to be thrown later.
** Gojju with addition of curds is a simple dish I often prepare with potatoes/ aloo/ batato as my hubby loves it very much when served with rice especially during summer season. When I found that only about a dozen of kooka was there, I thought why not prepare gojju as it had been quite sometime since I prepared it. Again, I hadd already finished preparing moth bean- rice- pumpkin khichidi for lunch which I was to serve with plain curds and in place of it gojju with curds was much more appealing.
** Without any more thoughts on unnecessarily wasting precious time I went about preparing gojju. Unlike my normal method of peeling kooka which I will share below if need be to those who would like to know or try it, this time I just washed them well to remove the muddy portion as much as I could and pressure cooked them and then easily peeled of the outer skin. This method serves the purpose of cooking much better as not only were the kooka smaller in size but also hard enough to be pressure cooked.
** I do realize that this recipe should have been prepared and shared months before so that most of my friends here could prepare and enjoy them in your home when they were still in season. However, if still available or if you grow them in your backyard then you can still try it and if nothing then there is always the coming season in a few months time, so save the recipe and try it at that time. As a reminder I will definitely post this recipe again ie in November to January when plenty of kooka is available.
** Here is my simple recipe for “Kooka- Dahi Gojju (Chinese Potato Curd Salad)” … my style, do try it, tastes wonderful …
** About preparing Kooka/ Chinese Potato : Cleaning kooka/ chinese potato is the biggest task. I have changed my method of cleaning, but your can prepare it anyway that is suitable to you. Having said this, cleaning also depends upon the quality of the kooka available to you. In Mumbai, sometimes we get really good ones, that peel off easily while sometimes we don't. So I will add in a few methods of peeling of the skin and you may follow as per the variety you get using trial and error method.
** Method 1 : One way of peeling the outer skin is, You can either just use the potato peeler and peel the kookas using it.
** The Traditional Method : The other traditional way is to put kooka in a gunny bag (Ghoni) and tightly packing it and then banging/ hitting it on to a stone firmly while rotating the bag all round as you go through the method. This loosen the skin and most of it comes off. Just scrub it with both hands retaining it within the gunny bag to loosen it more. This method is not used much now as it is difficult to access gunny bag. Even rice have been started to come in plastic type bags. If you have one, you can sure try this out. My mother used to make it this way and during childhood we used to loved doing it for her. We really did enjoying banging around the gunny bag to loosen the outer skin of kooka.
** My Method : I soak the required amount of kooka in plenty of water for about 5-10 mins, changing them a few times if they are too muddy. This loosens the dry mud that is sticking to the kooka. The I try loosening off the mud right there in the water by rubbing them between finger. Some kooka are well behaved and peel off easily, while some are stubborn and just don't listen making it difficult. So use the potato peeler and zap it comes out faster than when you run it on the drier one mentioned first.
** Important step of soaking in water once its peeled : It is very important to drop the skin peeled kooka/ Chinese potato into water to prevent it getting discolored. So keep a bowl with plenty of water ready and drop the peeled kookas immediately into them. Once done, wash them in plenty of water, rinsing many times in fresh water and remember to keep it soaked in water till the preparation/ cooking time.
** IMPORTANT NOTE : I can say that this is also a easier method of peeling off outer skin of smaller sized Kooka/ Chinese Potato as the above mentioned methods may turn out tedious. Again, for preparing gojju, kooka needs to be cooked really soft, so that you can easily crush them with hands or with a small weight or potato masher for perfect result, so the peeling method really depends upon the curry.
** Wash and soak in water about 20-25 medium sized kooka/ Chinese potato for 30 minutes. This method will soften the mud sticking to it, now scrub it out as much as possible with hands or a thick kitchen towel. Once again wash it well with plenty of water, scrubbing it again to remove as much muddy portion as possible.
** Add it into a pressure cooker along with 2 glasses of water and pressure cook on medium heat to 3-4 whistles. Remove and keep it aside to cool and the pressure to fall on its own, when able to open the lid, do so and add it into a colander and drain off the hot water. Rinse under running water to cool it down.
** When the kooka is cool enough to handle peel off the outer skin gently (it comes of easily) and add it into a wide stainless steel bowl. When all are peeled and done, gently wash it to remove any dirt and drain off well taking care to see that there is not trace of water. Gently crush each one with hand or using a weight/ potato masher or a weight to get coarsely crushed kooka. Take care and see that you do not mash it too much or make it into a paste, you should retain some small pieces too for the crunch.
** Beat 1-2 cups of curds/ dahi and add to the crushed kooka. (The amount of dahi actually depends upon the number of kooka and servings, so prepare accordingly). In a wooden bowl (I used kolbula) or steel bowl add 4-5 green chilies (tarni mirsanga/ hari michi) and crush them with a stone to a coarse paste, then add one large sized finely chopped onion (piyavu/ kanda) and mix it well, crushing it slightly. Remove and add this to the crushed kooka- curds mixture along with salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and mix well.
** Note : Crushing the green chilly first and then adding on onions and crushing slightly brings out the flavors and blends well with the dish.
** For Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil (narlel tela/ nariyal tela) in a small pan, when hot add 1 tsp mustard seeds (sasam/ rai), when they begin to crackle add ½ tsp of urad dal (split black gram dal) and when the color changes lightly, add ¼ tsp or a pinch of hing (asfoetida) powder, 8-10 fresh curry leaves (kadipatta/ karbevu), 1-2 dry red chillies (sukki mirsanga/ sukki mirchi) cut to pieces and fry for a few seconds and pour it over prepared and kept kooka gojju. Cover and keep it aside for the flavors to be infused well for 5-10 minutes and its ready.
** Note : Curd gojju should always be served immediately on preparation to avoid it turning sour which will then lose out on taste. I would not even recommend this to be stored in fridge to be served at a later time. In case you need to serve it later and want to prepare it prior for personal reasons, then prepare the steps of the gojju except addition of curds and keep it in a separate container. Just before serving beat the curds, add, mix well and serve it immediately. Here the important point to note is not to add curds prior.
** “Kooka- Dahi Gojju (Chinese Potato Curd Salad)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served with plain rice, khichidi or in thali with other dishes too. Summer is the time when you need to include lots of cooling food like curd dishes, be it dahi bhaat, tambuli, salads, simple dal- chawal with lassi or taak etc. The heat makes such food not only pleasing to be relished but also good for digestion. Do try this dish if you can still find kooka or when they come into season. I will share more such recipes for summer time meals for relief from heat, so please keep watching this space for more.
** Check out more “Gojju/ Bajji” recipes, in the common link shared below ….
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