Konkani Names for Fish

I started eating and cooking fish only after my marriage. My maternal family is vegetarian and we never used to cook non-veg at home. However, they were not against we eating non-veg. I still do not have a great taste, but I can say I am a non-vegetarian by choice and I love to try different recipes.

My hubby is from Mangalore and he has been a sea food lover since his childhood. He knows all konkani names for fish. But here since we get fish from all origins and has there own names, we are always skeptical about buying those.

Whenever we want to get fish, we buy it from 99 Ranch. They have both fresh and frozen ones. I like that place because they cut and clean the fish if we want. I have tried couple of frozen ones, but so far have liked only fresh ones.

Bitter Gourd Fry/Karathe Talasan

Talasan is simple stir fry with lots of garlic in it. Just like any koddel garlic is a must in this. Unlike other stir fry we do not use any water for talasan. But I microwaved bitter gourd for 5 minutes and also sprinkled water intermittently.

People do not like bitter gourd for its bitter taste. I usually cut them into desired size/shapes and soak them in salty water for 5-6 hours.Though the bitterness does not go completely, this slightly helps. We both like bitter gourd so we really do not worry too much about its taste.

Steamed Colocasia Patties/Pathrode Serving Suggestion

Recently I posted the recipe for pathrode. Yesterday I prepared it again for dinner but served it differently with a simple ghasi/gravy. At home this is called "ghasintule pathrode" which means "patties dipped in coconut gravy". This is just a serving suggestion of pathrode. The only additional step is to prepare ghasi/coconut gravy. This surely is very unique and tasty. Definitely worth trying !

Bamboo Shoot Gravy/ Kirla Ambat

I remember bamboo shoots being harvested during monsoons. My granny and aunt used to store it in large bharnis/ceramic jars and prepare various dishes all throughout the year. Stored bamboo shoots tastes divine when compared to fresh ones.

I have never seen bamboo shoots in any Indian grocery stores but I see this in 99 Ranch Market. I guess these are seasonal because these are available sometime from December/January to April/May. Initially they were pricey but now I see the prices are coming down and also there are lots and lots of bamboo shoots in the store. This time I have decided to buy them in large quantities and store it for months :). My aunt reminded me of this recipe. Kirlu is bamboo shoot and ambat is gravy.

Green Eggplant Curry/ Gulla Sagle

Gulla is eggplant and mostly used in Mangalore. Back in Bangalore we used to get gulla from Mangalore Store, Gandhi Bazaar. I love to have gulla sagle with dalitoy. Sagle is prepared with coarse coconut paste. I cook whole eggplants in coconut paste and I like it that way. 

I am not sure if these tiny Thai Eggplants are gulla but I get these specially to prepare gulla sagle. I have heard these tastes bitter when compared to big dark purple colored eggplants. So far I havent noticed any difference in taste.

Cooked Plantain in Coconut Sauce/ Kele Koddel

I had plantains stocked up in my refrigerator for quite few days. I didn't want to prepare usual "kele phodi". I remembered kele koddel. I had this long time ago when my grand mom used to decide the menu everyday. Koddel needs garlic seasoning and this is not prepared during auspicious days. This dish tastes good only with garlic. 

Fried Colocasia Patties/ Shakavrata Pathrode

Shakavrata Pathrode is straight from my grand mom's kitchen. She used to prepare this mostly during rainy season. The recipe is slightly different from steamed colocasia patties/pathrode which I posted few days back. I like this more than the steamed ones. Curd gives a very different taste after frying it on hot tava.

When I asked my aunt why was this dish named as "Shakavrata Pathrode",  she said "Shaka had this during vrata". Well I don't think there is any defined story behind this but I did read articles about Shalivahana Saka king and I came across an interesting article which said Hindus follow Shalivahana Calender. As far as I understand Shaka Vrata is followed during chaturyamasa and people should not eat red chillies, vegetables etc. It said red chillies can be substituted with peppercorns. Guess this dish has something to do with it ! We use couple of green chillies in this only to get spicy taste.

Colocasia Leaves in Coconut Gravy/ Alvatti

Alvatti is prepared mostly during rainy season but its been few weeks I am seeing colocasia leaves (patra leaves) regularly in Indian grocery stores. Initially I was skeptical of buying because these leaves might get itchy. When I could not resist myself we bought it and now I have been preparing all possible delicacies. Yesterday I prepared alvatti which is my all time favorite. I also found bikand (jack fruit seeds) which is the best combination for this curry. Today the left over was tasting even better :). 

Spicy Potato Curry/Batata Chutney

It was one sunday night both me and Pr felt like eating porridge for dinner. Porridge always tastes good either with kanchi or some spicy pickle/chutney. My husband came up with this wonderful recipe. This for sure goes very well with porridge and also panna polo (neer dosa). Now everytime we eat porridge we have this chutney.

Tilapia Tava Fry

We always get fresh fish from Ranch 99. There are only couple of Indian fish out there and we always buy white pomfret. This time my friend suggested tilapia and also mentioned the recipe for tava fry. Indeed a very tasty recipe and I just fell in love with this fish.