Rice flour ukad ( तांदळाची उकड )

I just love the cuisine of Konkan for its simplicity . 

The easily available ingredients , mild use of spices and the ease with which the dishes can be preapared just amazes me . 

We all have certain comfort foods which we love to have anytime anywhere . 

One such comfort food of mine is this dish known as 'ukad' ukad in marathi means to steam and that's what exactly this dish is all about . 

Ingredients -

1 cup .......................... rice flour 

4 cups ........................ sour thin buttermilk 

1 tb sp ........................ chilly garlic paste ( can also use ginger chilly paste ) 

1 t sp ......................... sugar ( optional )

1/4 t sp ...................... turmeric pd 

a pinch of .................. asefoetida ( hing ) 

1/2 t sp ...................... mustard seeds 

8/10 ........................... curry leaves 

3/4 tb sp .................... oil 

for garnish .................. freshly cut coriander leaves

salt as per taste 

Method -

Mix well the buttermilk , rice flour , chilly garlic paste , salt , sugar and turmeric so that there are no lumps . 

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds , when they splutter add curry leaves and hing . 

Now pour the mixture in the pan and stir continuously . 

Keep the flame medium to low . 

The mixture will slowly thicken and start leaving the sides of pan . 

At this point cover the pan with a lid and just cook for 2 more minutes . 

Serve hot garnished with corianders leaves and toppled with a spoonful of raw oil on it . 

Undalkaal ( उंडलकाळ )

This is a traditional sweet dish from Konkan . 

Just as other konkan sweets this dish too has coconut and jageery . 

The simplicity and yet the amazing taste of this yummy sweet is just surprising . 

This dish is usually made during the festivals as naivedyam ( offerings to God ) . 

Ingredients - 

1 bowl ...................... grated fresh coconut 

1 bowl ....................grated jaggery 

1/2 t sp ..................... cardamom powder 

1 small cup ............... rice flour 

ghee 

almond pistachio slivers for garnish 

pinch of salt

Method 

In a non stick pan add 1 tb sp ghee , grated coconut and 3/4th of grated jaggery and cook on a low flame till the jaggery melts . 

Stir nicely and when the mixture becomes dry and sticky add cardamom pd and switch off the gas . 

In another pan heat 1 small cup water , remaining jaggery , 1 t sp ghee and a pinch of salt . 

When the water comes to boil add the rice flour and stir it continuosly . 

Let all the water absorb in the rice flour . 

Keep on stirring till you get a soft smooth dough . 

Switch off the gas and let the dough cool down a bit . 

Now greash your hands with ghee and make small pea shape balls of this dough . 

Heat ghee in a pan and shallow fry these balls till golden and crisp . 

Add the above coconut jaggery misture to these balls . 

Carefully mix everything without breaking the balls . 

Garnish with almond pistachio slivers and offer as a naivedyam to the God . 

While eating always serve hot . 

Stuffed Bananas ( भरली केळी )

This delicious sweet dish is a speciality of CKP community of Mumbai . 

Bananas used in this dish is a special variety called rajali ( राजाळी ) . 

These bananas are thick stout and reddish in colour and have a grainy texture . 

If this variety is not available in your area you can also use the long yellow South Indian bananas . 

Ingredients - 

3 .......................... Rajali bananas 

1 bowl ................. grated fresh coconut 

3/4 bowl ..............grated jaggery 

1 bowl ................. thick coconut milk ( grind grated coconut and extract the juice ) 

3/4 tb sp ...............ghee 

1/2 t sp ................ cardamom pd 

1 tsp .................... almond and pistachio slivers 

Method - 

In a non stick pan add 1 tb sp ghee , grated coconut and jaggery and cook on a low flame till the jaggery melts . 

Stir nicely and when the mixture becomes dry and sticky add cardamom pd and switch off the gas . 

This is the stuffing for bananas . 

Now peel the bananas and keep the peel aside . 

Cut the bananas into 2 inch pieces and give them two diagonal vertical cuts keeping the piece intact . 

Stuff these cuts with the coconut jaggery filling . 

Now in a pan add little ghee and saute the bananas carefully for 2/3 minutes till they are golden brown on all sides . 

Now remove the bananas from the pan and arrange the peels at the bottom of the pan . 

On the peels arrange the sauted bananas . 

Pour on them the thick coconut milk and if the some coconut filling is left that too sprinkle on top . 

Cover the pan with the lid and cook on low flame for 10 minutes . 

Move the bananas upside down and let the other side too cook for further 10 mintues . 

When cooked sprinkle the almond pistachio slivers and decorate . 

You can have this delicious sweet hot or cold as per you liking . 

The peels at the bottom of the pan prevent the bananas from burning . 

These crispy sweetish banana peels also taste yummy . 

Stuffed Crabs ( भरले खेकडे )

The koli community is one of the original inhabitants of Mumbai . 

Their food which is full of spices is extremely delicious  . 

The variety of fish that this community prepares is just mouth watering . 

Today when I bought crabs from the fish market decided to make a popular koli variety which tastes amazing . 

It goes very well with rice and solkadhi ( curry ) . 

Make this dish a bit dry if you are having it with rice . 

And if you like to have it with roti , bhakri or paratha then you can keep little gravy . 

Ingredients - 

5/6 ............................ crabs 

10/12 ........................ garlic flakes 

1 inch ....................... ginger 

1/2 bowl ................... grated dry coconut

1 ............................... onion sliced 

1 ............................... onion chopped

3/4 .......................... green chillies 

1 ............................ tomato chopped 

2 t sp ..................... red chilly pd 

1 t sp .....................  turmeric pd 

2 tb sp ..................... koli masala ( can also use garam masala ) 

salt according to the taste 

oil to cook 

Method 

Add little oil in a pan and saute ginger , garlic , dry coconut , sliced onions and green chillies till they are golden brown . 

Clean and wash the crabs properly . 

Remove the legs and upper cover of the crabs . 

You can keep the legs intact if you like . 

I use them to make crab soup so I remove and keep them separately . 

Now in a pan add oil and saute the chopped onion till transparent .

Add chopped tomatoes and saute till the raw smell of tomatoes disappears . 

Add chilly pd , turmeric , koli masala , above ground masala , salt and mix everything properly . 

When this mixture cools down a bit fill it in the cleaned and washed crabs . 

Now again in a pan add little oil and arranged the masala filled crabs in it . 

Add little water as per your desire and cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame . 

After 5/10 minutes move the crabs upside down and let the other side cook for 10 more minutes .

Serve with hot rice and solkadhi a popular konkan speciality .