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
  1. 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.
  2. Heat oil in pan and stir fry one roughly chopped onion till translucent. Add scrapped coconut and stir fry till golden brown.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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/