Malabar Spinach is a leafy vegetable known as Vaali in Konkani, Basale in tulu and scientific name Basella Alba. These creepers normally grow in the backyards of the house in our place. Of course you need a backyard, as nowadays having one is a treasure ;). Papashphal on the other hand means Papaya, read as pa-pa-sh-ph(f)-al here the papaya used is raw. This curry is especially made during Konkani Baby shower ceremonies because the pregnant lady is not allowed to eat raw papaya and vaali because elders believed that these two vegetables contain high amount of latex may trigger uterine contractions( I am no health advisor to confirm this, I am just sharing what I heard).
One dish is Ambat which is made with Dal and tadka is given
with onion and other is Bendi which is without dal and tadka is given with
garlic.
Today I am posting Ambat and here is what you need:
Ingredients:
Vaali/ Malabar spinach 1 bunch
Papashphal/raw papaya – 1 small
Tur dal- ¼ th cup
Coconut, fresh or frozen -1 cup
Red chillies – 6-7(long variety that is not so spicy)roast in a tsp of oil
Tamarind marble sized
Onion -2 medium finely chopped
Coconut oil preferably – 1 tbsp ( you can use any oil if you don’t prefer this)
Salt to taste
Method:
Wash toor dal with ¾ th cup water and pressure cook it. Mash the cooked dal and keep it aside.
Pluck the leaves from stems. Cut the stems into 2 inch pieces. Wash and clean the leaves as well as stems. Roughly chop the leaves. Add these chopped leaves in the mashed dal and cook till done. The leaves will cook soon but the stems may take some time.
Meanwhile, Wash the papaya and peel it, remove seeds if any and cut into 2-inch cubes and cook it in 1 cup of water in a open pot. There is no need of pressure cooking this.
When the papaya is almost cooked add in chopped leaves along with stems and dal.
Add salt to taste and mix well.
For masala/ gravy/masolu- grind roasted red chillies, tamarind and fresh/frozen coconut to a smooth paste.
Mix the ground masala, salt as per the taste to the leaves and add enough water to get desired consistency. Mix well and cook for atleast 5-7 minutes over a medium flame.
Now heat coconut oil in a small pan or tadka pan on low flame and add finely chopped onions. Sauté it till the onions turn brown on low flame itself.
Add this seasoning to the cooked curry, switch off the flame and cover the vessel with lid.
Vaali papashphala ambat is ready to be relished with hot rice.
Aps Notes:
I have used long variety of chilly so I have added 7 of them if the chilly you use is hot/spicy kindly adjust accordingly.
If you do not consume onion then you can use mustard seeds and curry leaves for seasoning in place of onions.
Happy Cooking,
Aps
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