Tonak is a very popular dish in the Goan cuisine in which the legumes or veggies are cooked in a coconut based gravy. We have already posted recipes of Alsanyache Tonak(Red Cow Peas Curry) and Mixed Veggies Tonk. This particular recipe uses a combination of radish and masoor (Red Lentils). There are also non-vegetarian versions of this recipe made with crabs, prawns or clams. We have already posted Crabs Tonak and Prawns Tonak.
In Goa, tonak is usually eaten with Pav. But it tastes good with rotis or rice too.
Serves: 3-4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Masoor (Red Lentils): 1/2 cup
Radish: 2 peeled and cut into pieces.
Onion : 2
Cinnamon : 1/2 inch piece
Cloves : 4
Peppercorns : 10-12
Bay Leaf: 1
Coriander seeds: 2-3 tsp
Garlic : 2 cloves finely chopped
Ginger: 1/4 inch piece
Scraped Coconut: 1 cup
Dry Red Chillies: 5 small
Tamarind: 1 marble sized ball
Turmeric Powder: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Method of Preparation:
- 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 1/2 cup of water to grind to a smooth paste.
- Soak the masoor in sufficient water for 1/2 hour.. Mix the masoor with the radish and finely chopped onion and pressure cook with a little water for 2 whistles.
- In a pan, mix together the cooked masoor and the ground coconut mixture. Add turmeric powder and salt to taste.
- Close lid and let cook for 3-4 minutes. If the gravy looks too dry, you can add a little water.
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