“Jeevi Tori- Kooka Gashi (Fresh Green Pigeon Peas- Chinese Potato Curry)” … the season of jeevi tori and kooka almost comes to an end … gashi is one of the tastiest traditional dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared in this combo that tastes best served with Ukde SheetHa/ Red Boiled Rice … try it, its awesome ... Yummilicious …
** Jeevi Tori ie fresh green pigeon peas comes into season during winter somewhere during the same time as kooka/ Chinese potatoes. There plenty of dishes prepared in GSB Konkani Saraswat community using them individually and together that are loved by all and one of them is this dish ie gashi. You can either prepare with addition of raw jackfruit or kooka and it tastes wonderful, though there are a few more combos like that with potato or cauliflower etc. these two are the most combined ones.
** Gashi, is a famous GSB Konkani Saraswat dish prepared almost in every home or during most of the functions/ celebrations. I have posted this many times with different combinations so will just share a common link to both veg. and non.veg preparations which you can browse through and choose from. I will not run into details too as I have already written them in detail in other posts. This time round I have prepared this gashi curry with fresh green pigeon peas in combination with chinese potato and it tastes great.
** Here is my recipe for “Jeevi Tori- Kooka Gashi (Fresh Green Pigeon Peas- Chinese Potato Curry)” … My Style …
** Shell and keep ready about 2 cups of jeevi tori/ fresh green Pigeon Peas. This does not require soaking as they are fresh veggies. In case of dried one’s which also can be used for this curry, soak them overnight in plenty of water.
** 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.
** Traditional Method : The 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 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.
** Addition of Kooka/ Chinese Potato to this curry : After peeling the skin in any of the above mentioned method, wash it well in plenty of water and then cut it into 1 inch sized pieces depending upon the size of the kooka as they come in small and medium sizes. If large cut them into 2-3 pieces and if small you can retain them whole as it is. Just follow your judgment and keep the cut pieces even sized. I have used about 15 large sized kooka which I cut into halves after cleaning them.
** First add the fresh pigeon peas in a pressure cooker pan in a single layer. Then top it with the kooka cut to pieces in a layer. Add required amount of water, say about an inch above the level of the veggies and pressure cook on medium heat to 1-2 whistles only. Let rest for 5 minutes, then release the excess pressure in the cooker if any by gently lifting the weight with the help of tongs, open and let cool a bit.
** Masala to be Ground : Grind to a very fine paste 1 heaped cup of freshly grated coconut (soyi/ nariyal) with 10-12 kashmiri red chillies (byadgi mirchi/ kumte mirsanga) and a small marble sized tamarind (chinchama/ Imly) with as little water as possible. You can use the peas- kooka cooked water for grinding the masala too which is what I usually do. Also the masala should be ground to a thick and smooth texture without adding excess water which can always be added later if need be.
** Note : For preparation of any curry you can use any sour tasting fruit/veggie like, bimbul (tree sorrel fruit), ambado (Hog Plum), karmbala (starfruit), dried kokum, kudampuli (dried malabar tamarind), ambuli (raw mango) etc. in which case please remember to not add tamarind while grinding the masala.
** Add the cooked fresh pigeon peas and kooka into a thick bottomed stainless steel vessel along with the ground masala. Mix well adding enough water to bring to required gravy consistency. Add salt/ namak/ meeta to taste and cook on medium flame until it comes to a boil and you see bubbles appearing on surface. Lower the heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes, then remove and keep aside covered.
** For Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : Heat 1 tblsp of coconut oil (nariyal tel/ narlel tela) or any edible oil you wish to, in a small pan, when hot add 1 tsp of mustard/ rai/ sasam seeds, when they begin to splutter add 8-10 fresh curry leaves/ karbevu/ kadipatta, fry a bit and then remove and pour over curry. Cover with a tight lid and keep aside for atleast 20 minutes for the flavors to seep into the curry well.
** “Jeevi Tori- Kooka Gashi (Fresh Green Pigeon Peas- Chinese Potato Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served with ukde sheetHa/ Red Boiled rice or any other rice during meals. However, If you do not prefer to eat rice, you can serve the curry with roti, chapathi, paratha, idly or dosa, appos or even mildly spiced rice dishes. Enjoy this delicious gashi/ curry with your family- friends and do give me a feedback if possible, it helps me in improving myself and doing that much more.
** You can check out on the same curry shared before in same combo but with garlic/ losun tempering (tadka) on the link shared below ...
** Sharing a common link to all “Gashi” recipes in the blog shared below, please browse through in leisure and try them ….
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Thanks.