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. The toor dal can also be replaced with masoor dal or sprouted moong.
Tonak is a very popular dish in the Goan cuisine in the which the legumes or peas or red amaranth leaves in this case are cooked in a coconut based gravy. This particular recipe of red amaranth curry uses red amaranth leaves also called as Tambdi Bhaji in Goa. You can also replace them with whole masoor dal, green peas, red cow peas or also vegetables to make other tonak recipes. Here are some of the veg tonak recipes on this blog: Mixed veggies tonak, Radish Tonak, Alsane Tonak (Red Cow Peas Tonak). There are also non-vegetarian versions of this recipe made with crabs, prawns or clams. We have already posted Prawns Tonak on this blog.
In Goa, tonak is usually eaten with Pav. But it tastes good with rotis or rice too. If you want to try to make Pav at home, here is a tried and tested recipe: Pav recipe
Here is the step by step Tambdi Bhaji Tonak recipe with pictures:
Serves: 3-4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Red Amaranth Leaves: 3 cups chopped
Toor Dal: 1/4 cup
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 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
Note:
- 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.
For the entire list of all Goan curries, you can click here: Goan Curries. Some of the vegetarian curry recipes which are very popular among our readers are mooga gathi (sprouted moong dal curry), Goan Bharli Vangi (Stuffed Baingan), Goan Raw Mango Curry(Amlechi Uddamethi).
Tambdi Bhaji Tonak
- 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
- 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
You may increase or decrease the chillies based on what suits your taste.
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