Ambe-Avnaasa Saasam, PA Juice, Raw Mango Pickle, Fruit Basket , Ladoos -I HATE!!

'Saasam' is a term in Konkani for Mustard seeds or Rai. The dish is a curried side dish- its very popular in marriages , made of fresh fruits, in a way curried fruit salad! The main ingredient here is mango and pineapple ( ambe, avnaas respectively in Konkani) many add black grapes and green grapes as well to make it look more colorful and the curry has some saasam in it.
Am not too sure whether Saasam name has been derived from Rai or in other Konkani dialect it means 'mixture' !

My Amma prepares it this way, there are many variations to it as well.

Ambe Avnaasa Saasam -->>

Ingredients :
1/2 cup chopped mangoes (ripe, alphonso)
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple pieces
3/4 th cup coconut (fresh / dessicated)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds toasted
Tamarind (half-a-marble sized)
Hing a tiny pinch
2 tsp jaggery
3-4 red chillies (more if u prefer spicy)
Salt

Tadka : 1 tsp - Coconut oil, 1 tsp - rai, 2-3 sprigs - curry leaves


Method :





Place the chopped fresh fruits (mango , pineapple) in a big serving bowl. Grind to fine paste - coconut, chillies, tamarind, jaggery, toasted rai, hing with water enough to give it porridge consistency, add salt to taste , add water to obtain sauce consistency, pour over fruits. Mix well.
Heat oil in a small pan, crackle the rai, add the curry leaves, pour atop the curried mango-pineapple mix. Cover and allow the flavours to gel.
Have it as a side dish or just like a dessert .

Update : 15th June 2008:

This goes to Sig's @ Live to Eat -Tamarind Event!
(Tks Sig, its got a eeny weeny bit of tamarind though!)

Summer --- beat it with Fresh Pineapple Juice

In a blender, blend one cup cubed fresh pineapple pieces, add a pinch of black salt, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of cardamom powder, two tsp sugar (the pineapple was on sweeter side) a dash of lemon juice, add two cups of cold water, blend, strain, serve!! INDULGE!

Kairi Pickle-Cooked Version -- This appeals to all those who have tastebuds which drizzle saliva at the mention of sour-sweet-spice! I am one of this troop!! :D
The below measure yields a bowl full of pickle, has to be consumed in a week's time.
Adjust jaggery, chili powder and salt as per your personal preference.



Ingredients :
2 grated kairi/raw mangoes
6-7 tbspn crumpled jaggery
1/2 tsp rai
1/2 tsp fennel seeds/saunf
1/4 tsp methi seeds
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Black salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder
Oil -cooking oil/vegetable oil

Method :
Cook down the kairi with jaggery, once all the liquid has evaporated, mix in the black salt and red chili powder. Take 1/2 tsp oil in small tadka pan, heat the oil, crackle rai, add saunf and methi seeds. Pour this tempering over the kairi-jaggery mixture. Mix well, add the elaichi powder.
Have this with chapatis and Droooooooooooooooolllllllll !


Last week I prepared the following from blogs -- they were :


Meera, a dear blogger and friend to me , posted longggggggggg back a yummy
Lemon Yoghurt Cake, which finally saw light of the day in my kitchen --

Meera, this cake was too yummy thanks for sharing and describing it so well, got over same day!
Also her lovely dish Masoor Tikhale, a family recipe, is now a weekly addition with the lovely aromas of day to day ingredients put together, a dish polished off in one meal with no leftovers!!
Thanks yet again dear!!


Mansi of Fun and Food, posted a gorgeous finger food, Vegetable Bread Baskets which called for shaping the slices (fresh bread will need to be flattened a bit with rolling pin prior to baking to avoid crumpling) of bread n baking them, (170C for 12-15 mins until toasted) which appealed to me a great deal..so thought why not try, but I tweaked the filling recipe to suit my pantry...turned these basket shaped toasts to fruit basket with just chopped cherries and mangoes, seasoned with little chat masala, base of basket was a tsp of Gulkhand (jam can be used-get as creative as you can) with this fresh fruit filling topped with mozzarella cheese shreds, baked 170C for 7 mins until the topping just melts, these were finished off as evening snack on a weekend!

Fruit Basket - Bread n Fruits --






Try these to satisfy yourself of a crispy-fruity combo! Thanks Mansi!!!


Trupti of Recipe Center made these lovely Sabudana Ladoos and ever since it stayed at the back of my mind, trying to find some time to make these...and while making realised that it didn't take time at all!! They were so delicious I gobbled off many of the 14 ladoos and my kiddos n hub followed suit!
(Two notes - 1. The sabudana needs to be fried until brown. 2. Sabudana powder has to be sieved.)

When I went over to her space to comment on these, I was pleasantly surprised to find her tag me. Its a simple tag, hence I took it up...




10 Things I hate( not ate!!) MeMe
1. Superficial attitude.
2. Double standards.
3. Inhuman Nature - Be it for Elders, Peers or for Animals
4. Vulgarity
5. Blood shed/Wars
6. Corruption
7. Anger- Its Destructive
8. Ego- Its even more destructive
9. Alcohol Tobacco etc n way they r Glamorised
10. Infidelity- Hate activities meant 4 animals followed by some mortals!


Passing this on, rather tagging my dear fellow bloggers with no compulsion to take up -- do it only if time permits! :D :D

Meera - EIF

Maya - AAK

Priyanka - Asankhana

Deeba - PAB


And if you are wondering how many sweets have I posted, its over a period of one week..but today is special...how .....read below --


A VERY VERY HAPPY *35TH* ANNIVERSARY TO MY AMMA-AANNA (MOM-DAD)!!!




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Batatya Upkari Ani Daalitoy (Potato Curry and Daal-South Canara Style)

Batatya Upkari (Left Hand Side) Daalitoy (Right Hand Side)

Speaking of Konkanis and to be more specific, at my place, this is the most sought after meal.
Some of them swear this Daal to be their 'Kul-Dev', while the other lot prefers to simply slurp it down tossed with melted ghee! The accompaniment is dry curry which is generally called 'Upkari' and can be made of several veggies, but our fave is either Tendley(Gherkins) or Batato ( Potato).
The potato curry is usually garnished with freshly scraped coconut, but I have skipped that.


Batatya Upkari :

Ingredients -
6 medium sized potatoes
1 tsp rai
5-6 red chillies (bydagi)
Salt
Oil

Method -
Wash the potatoes thoroughly. The potatoes are not peeled. Cut into french fries style mini pieces. (As shown in pic). Heat around a tbspn of cooking oil in kadhai, pop the mustard seeds, halve the chillies and add till glossy with oil. Next add the cut potatoes, stir till coated uniformly with oil, cover the lid, allow to cook in its own steam, stir in-between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Add salt to taste. Cook for 10-15 min or until done. It should get cooked but not mashed, the shape should be intact. Cover till serving for flavours to blend. Garnish with a tbspn of freshly scraped coconut if desired.


Daalitoy or Toay :

Ingredients -
1 cup tuvar daal
1 pinch hing powder / lapsi sized crystal of hing
2 green chillies
1 tbspn coconut oil
1 tsp rai
5-6 red chillies (byadgi)
Ghee while serving

Method -
Pressure cook daal along with green chillies with double the amount of water for upto 3 whistles.
In a vessel take salt and hing (dilute the crystals if using those with warm water) pour the daal in it, churn it a little. (At this stage add more water if you like it liquidy or let it just be if you like it thick.) Throw away the cooked green chillies. Simmer the daal again on gas top, medium flame. In a tadka pan, heat coconut oil and pop the mustard seeds, add the halved byadgi chillies till glossy and pour it over the boiling daal. Put the flame off and cover with lid for flavours to blend.

Serve hot rice, top the rice with ghee, pour Daalitoy and relish it with Batatya Upkari!!


(PS: This is how the dish is made by my mother, there are variations and combinations that people like and I am representing only my family's taste here.)


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