“Beetroot- Onion- Tomato Songa (Spicy Curry)” … "Songa" is a spicy side dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine prepared usually with onion and potato … the same can be prepared with other veggies too … Beetroot being slightly sweeter in taste gives a little bit different taste from that of traditional Songa nevertheless it tastes awesome paired with roti/ paratha … Yummilicious …
** I am sure everybody knows of the immense health benefits of beetroot. This is a versatile veggie that can be added to curry, prepared as halwa, salad, bhaji, paratha etc. Here I have prepared it as Songa, a spicy dish often served during meals in Saraswat home. Addition of tomato is optional and you can replace it with any tart tasting veggie or you can add a little bit extra tamarind for balancing the taste of the dish.
** Songa, is a semi thick spicy side dish from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine served with Dal- Rice during meals. While the traditional way of serving it is with rice it taste awesome served with roti/ chapathi/ parathas too. I have shared plenty of songa recipes prepared in different combinations and they all are equally tasty. I am sharing a common link at the bottom of this recipe which you can browse through in leisure.
** Here is my recipe for “Beetroot- Onion- Tomato Songa (Spicy Curry)” … My Style, tastes best with roti ….
** Ingredients :
Beetroot : 2 large sized
Onions/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 2 large sized.
Tomatoes : 2 large sized.
Kashmiri Dry Red Chillies/ Kumte Mirsanga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 12-15
Coriander/ Kothimbir/ Dhania Seeds : 2-3 tsp.
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : small pinch.
Mustard Seeds/ Rai/ Sasam : 1 tsp
Curry Leaves/ Kadipatta/ Karbevu : 10-12 fresh ones.
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste.
Coconut Oil/ Nariyal Tel/ Narlel Tela : 1 tsp + 3 tblsp
** Peel the outer skin of beetroot and cut them into ½ inch sized pieces. Put them in a colander, rinse well, add into a pressure cooker pan along with 1 cup of water and cook to 2 whistles. Remove and keep it aside to release pressure on its own. When able to open the lid, do so and keep it aside ready.
** Peel off the skin of onions and cut them also into ½ inch sized cubes and keep it aside ready, the size should be close to that of beetroot cuts.
** Wash, wipe dry and cut the tomatoes also into cubes of the same size as above and keep them also ready aside.
** For Ground Masala : Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai, when hot add coriander seeds and fry to light golden color on medium heat. Add in kashmiri dry red chillies and further fry for another 2-3 minutes or until slightly crisp, do not make it dark. Remove and let cool a bit. Add into a mixer grinder along with tamarind and grind to a fine paste adding little bit of water. You can use veggie-cooked water for grinding which is what I do.
** Note : If you want bulk in ground masala to get slightly thicker gravy you can add ¼ cup of fresh coconut gratings while grinding. I have not added as my quantity requirement was less, however I do add it often and it tastes great.
** Note : You can increase the number of dry red chillies depending upon your family spice requirement, but I would not suggest lessening the numbers than mentioned as this curry is supposed to be spicy for best of taste.
** Note : You can prepare this curry using masala powders too instead of grinding masala. Just add red chilly powder, coriander powder after frying the onions and add tamarind paste later while preparing the curry
** Note : If not adding on tomatoes increase the amount of tamarind while grinding to double. The tomatoes we get in Mumbai are not very tart in taste so I do add on a pinch of tamarind, you can chose otherwise too.
** Note : For the preparation of curry you can use any one of the tart tasting fruit/ veggies like, bimbul (tree sorrel fruit), ambado (Hog Plum), karmbala (carmbola/ starfruit), ambuli (raw mango), harvo tomato (raw- green tomato), dried kokum, kudampuli, agal (kokum extract) etc. as is available. In case you do not have access to any one of them or are not available or you do not want to use them then for any reason, do not worry, you can add in a small marble sized piece of tamarind (chinchama/ Imly) while grinding the masala which is what is followed in GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine.
** For preparation of Songa : Heat 3 tblsp oil in a thick bottomed kadai/ pan, when hot add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add curry leaves, onion pieces and fry on medium heat till translucent. Add tomato pieces and mix well, add a little bit of water (use veggie- cooked water) and cook on medium heat until soft.
** Add the ground masala, salt to taste, pressure cooked beetroot along with the remaining cooked water if any, mix well and let cook on medium heat stirring often until you cook it thoroughly ie you see bubbles appearing on surface. Lower the heat to minimum, check and add water only if required and let simmer for a good 10 minutes. Do not forget to stir the dish in between to avoid it being burnt.
** About Tempering/ Pannaka/ Tadka : There are two methods of tempering followed for thsi particular curry (songa) and you may choose any you like. One method is as mentioned in this recipe, the other method is to completely cook the curry first and then prepare the tempering in a small pan separately and pour it over the simmering curry (towards the end) and mix well. Each home follows their own method of cooking handed down generations and rightly so as both give same results. I follow any depending upon the particular veggie, you can chose any that’s easier to you.
** “Beetroot- Onion- Tomato Songa (Spicy Curry)” is done and ready to be served. Check the consistency of the curry before serving, if you find that it has thickened too much then add in some boiling hot water, mix well, check salt, add if necessary and serve it hot immediately. You can serve as side dish with Dalitoy (spiced tuvar dal)- Rice or Roti/ Chapathi or any combo dishes of your choice, it tastes fantastic.
** You can also serve this dish with dosa/ panpole/ parathas or roti too. Also goes well with shevai/ string hoppers (check my next posts). In my home, whenever we prepare shevai we always prepare songa as it is one of our favorite combo dish. Do try out this awesome recipe and enjoy with your family and friends. Do remember to leave a comment below, It really helps in knowing if you have liked the same.
** Sharing a common link to all “Songa” recipes both Veg. and Non-Vegetarian shared in the blog before, You may browse through the same in leisure, try them out and do remember to give me a feedback … thank you …
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