Tambdi Bhaji Tonak (Red Amaranth Curry in Goan style)
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Goan
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
Tambdi bhaji tonak is a red amaranth curry in the Goan style. In this recipe, the red amaranth leaves along with dal are cooked in a coconut based gravy.
Ingredients
Red Amaranth Leaves: 3 cups chopped
Toor Dal: ¼ cup
Onion : 2
Cinnamon : ½ inch piece
Cloves : 4
Peppercorns : 10-12
Bay Leaf: 1
Coriander seeds: 2-3 tsp
Garlic : 2 cloves finely chopped
Ginger: ¼ inch piece
Scraped Coconut: 1 cup
Dry Red Chillies: 5 small
Tamarind: 1 marble sized ball
Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Instructions
Heat a little oil in a pan and stir fry the ginger and garlic till brown. Add the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf and coriander seeds and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove and keep aside.
Heat oil in pan and stir fry one roughly chopped onion till translucent. Add scrapped coconut and stir fry till golden brown.
Grind the ginger-garlic-dry spices and onion-coconut mixture along with dry red chilies and tamarind. Use around ½ cup of water to grind to a smooth paste.
Soak the dal for half an hour. Mix the red amaranth leaves with the dal and one finely chopped onion and pressure cook with a little water for 3-4 whistles till dal is completely cooked.
In a pan, mix together the amaranth dal mixture and the ground coconut mixture. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste. Close lid and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Your Tambdi bhaji tonak is ready. If the gravy looks too dry, you can add a little water.
Garnish with coriander
Notes
I have used the above measurements of spices several times in India with perfect results. However, sometimes the spices are much stronger (for e.g in the Gulf where I live now). In that case you might want to reduce the spices. I usually reduce the stronger spices by around 25% when I make alsanyache tonak in Bahrain. You may increase or decrease the chillies based on what suits your taste.
Recipe by YourHungerStop at https://www.yourhungerstop.com/tambdi-bhaji-tonak-red-amaranth-curry-in-goan-style/