Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Kirlailele Bagado- Sukkale Sungata- Bimbla Ambat (Sprouted Red- Eyed Beans-Dry Prawns-Tree Sorrel Fruit Curry).


“Kirlailele Bagado- Sukkale Sungata- Bimbla Ambat (Sprouted Red- Eyed Beans-Dry Prawns-Tree Sorrel Fruit Curry)” … the taste of a curry is always enhanced when it's tempered with crisp fried onions, which we fondly call as ambata … and when the dish includes sprouts, dry fish (prawns), bimbul, it turns out that much more fantastic … tastes awesome served with rice ... Yummilicious …

** As I often mention Ambat is a favorite curry in my home be it Veg/ Non-Veg. those crisp evenly browned onion seasoning makes my tummy grumble when I begin to cook and I get impatient for lunchtime and served with rice it tastes awesome. This is a traditional dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine often prepared during monsoon if prepared with addition of dried prawns as they are extensively used then when fresh catch is unavailable. Addition of sprouts with veggies is the most sought after one though non. veggies often add on dried prawns. For that tart taste any veggie like hogplum, bimbul, starfruit, kokum, kadumpuli, raw mangoes too can be added as per availability.

** Bagdo/ Bagade, is a famous dried red bean close in nature to alsande bee (chawli/ black eyed bean/ cow pea) except for the color which is light brown/ red as enclosed in picture. These are not chawli/ moth beans which many mistake it to be and is extensively available in southern parts of India. As they are dehydrated beans they need to be soaked for about 6-8 hours or overnight and then cooked to prepare into various dishes and if need to be sprouted then the same has to be followed by leaving it to sprout for a day after which the skin is removed and used in preparation of curries, slightly tedious task there, nevertheless the taste is unbeatable compared to plain cooked ones.

** In this recipe I have used sprouts as ambats taste the best when prepared with sprouts, frankly I must mention here that one has to relish relish these dishes to really know the taste and I suggest you try it if available in your vicinity. This time I have prepared this curry with addition of sukkale sungata/ sun dried prawns along with bimbul (bimbli/ tree sorrel fruit) and it was scrumptious. About Ambat, the curry is onion seasoned which I have shared several times in various combos and writing anything will only be repeating. I am sharing a common link at the bottom of this recipe for reference to dishes, do browse through and try, and enjoy dishes with family and give me a feedback if possible.

** Here is my Recipe for “Kirlailele Bagado- Sukkale Sungata- Bimbla Ambat (Sprouted Red- Eyed Beans-Dry Prawns-Tree Sorrel Fruit Curry)” … my own combo, my style, do try it out and enjoy with family ….

** You will need about 2-3 cups of Kirlailele Bagado (Sprouted Red- Eyed Beans) for this recipe. For the method of sprouting bagado perfectly, I am sharing a link at the bottom of this recipe which includes all information.

** Once the beans are spouted well, soak in plenty of water for about 2-3 hours, this loosens the skin, some float on top while the other will have to be removed which actually slips off easily. The only hitch I would say about this recipe is this is slightly a tedious task that may consume time especially if you have a larger family.


** For Preparing the Sukkale Sungata/ Sun Dried Prawns :
Clean the prawns, trim off the head, tail and the legs gently and retain only the body portion. Wash them gently in water and then "soak them in lukewarm water" for about 10-15 minutes, gently rinse so that you don’t break them and they are ready to be used.

** Wash 2-3 bimbul/ bimbli/ tree sorrel fruit, wipe dry, then slice of both edge portions and cut them into roundels of 1/2 inch in size. Prepare and keep this ready aside to be used while preparing the curry. Peel off the outer skin of two large sized onions (piyavu/ kanda) and finely chop them. Keep them also ready aside.

** Note : You can add any one of the tart veggies to the curry like ambado (hogplum) or karmbala (starfruit) to the curry to replace bimbul (tree sorrel fruit). At times, I add kokum/ kudumpuli/ raw mango also. However, if none is available then add a small marble sized piece (1 tsp) of tamarind while grinding the masala.

** Meanwhile wash and rinse sprouted bagado and add it into a wide vessel. Add in enough water say just about level of the beans and cook on medium heat until the water comes to boil, now lower the heat and cook for about 10-15 minutes. The sprouts should not be over cooked so be careful and let it just cook about 70%.

** Note : Avoid cooking sprouts in pressure cooker for cooking as they tend to overcook and become mushy and loose on taste. Sprouts should always retain a little bit of crispiness in texture while cooked. So cook them with water until just about done. Some cook fast while some may take more time, but trust me its better this way.

** Masala to be ground : In a small pan heat 1 tsp oil, add 2-3 tblsp of coriander seeds (dhania/ kothimbir) and fry until they change slightly in colour, now add 8-10 red kashmiri chillies (kumte mirsanga/ byadgi mirchi) and further fry for another 1-2 minutes. Add them into a mixer grinder along with 1 heaped cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) and grind to a smooth paste with little bit of water. 

** Note : The paste should be ground very smooth in texture for best outcome of the curry and you can use the bagado cooked water for grinding the masala too which is what we most of us amchies do, try it, it curtails excess usage of water.


** Drain, rinse and add dried prawns to the cooking bagado, mix well and continue cooking adding more water only if necessary. When cooked 90% add ground masala, bimbul pieces, half of the finely chopped onions (retain other half for seasoning), salt (namak/ meeta) to taste and mix well. Let the curry come to a full boil on medium heat, stirring a few times to avoid it getting burnt. Lower the heat and let simmer without covering for about 5-7 minutes and the curry has been thoroughly cooked.

** For Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : Heat 2-3 tblsp of oil (tel/ tela) in a small pan, when hot add the remaining finely chopped onion (piyavu/ kanda) and fry till evenly browned. Do not overfry the onions, lest they turn blackish which tends to give bitter taste to curry. Remove immediately and pour over the simmering curry, mix a little bit, remove from fire and keep it aside covered for the flavors to seep in well.

** Note : The consistency of Ambat is slightly thicker, so, be careful with addition of water while cooking. You can always add in hot water just before serving if you find that the curry too thick to be served with rice.

** “Kirlailele Bagado-Sukkale Sungata- Bimbla Ambat (Sprouted Red- Eyed Beans- Dry Prawns- Tree Sorrel Fruit Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served hot with ukde sheetHa (red boiled rice/ keral matta rice) or plain steamed surti kollam rice as is how we GSB Konkani Saraswat's serve it in our home for lunch. However, for any reason if you do not want to have rice or are avoiding it, then you can serve it with roti or parathas too. You can also serve with Idly/ dosa/ appo too, it tastes great.

** "Ambat" be it with veggies or with addition of non. veg is a delicious curry that is loved by almost all in my community and there is always demand for more. The only hitch in this particular curry ie with bagado is the need to remove the outer skin of the sprouts which is time consuming. But I must mention here that the taste of the curry actually compensates for the laborious work one needs to put in. 

** I have beautiful childhood memories of this curry coz. amma (my mom) always prepared this curry either on Sundays or holidays and gave us siblings the work to peel the skin which actually irritated us as we missed our fun times. We would usually play antakshari a game were old hindi songs were sung non stop as a chain string with last word of the song stopped. I am sure every Indian knows of this game but there are times when we ran out of songs or got bored and run off telling amma that I have removed the skin of the portion of how much I will consume and the rest could be continued by others. Lol, childhood memories are so precious and always brings a smile on our lips.

** All sprouts are very good for health as they increase the protein content of the bean. I have added green gram dal (moong/ mung), matki (moth beans) and a few more sprouted bean details too before under the method of spouting which is actually the same for all sprouts, at least I successfully follow the same method, just check it out via the link shared below, it is very easy and once you learn its breeze work.

** For the "Method of Sprouting Bean", Please check the link given below …

** Sharing a common link to all “Ambat” recipes in the Blog, do try them out in liesure and enjoy with family if you love ambat recipes like in my home …

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