Off to Goa... KhatKhate (AKA Veggie Stew with Kick)

I've just realised that for the first time since I started blogging, Next Sunday I won't be posting. I've done a total of 20 weeks in a row, and I'm gonna break that streak next week. Because I'm going to Goa!

Source

It's my first weekend away in ages. Just wish I could take my doggie with me; I'd love to see her on the beach and in the sea, she's such a water-babe. And I'll really miss her, but I'm soooooooo looking forward to this trip, with some of my friends from work. We leave on Thursday evening and we'll get back late night Sunday.

Have I mentioned how excited I am?

So I've been looking up Goan recipes. The problem is, Goa is extremely Catholic, which means lots of Chicken, Pork and Fish and very little vegetables. What I found is a great sounding left-overs dish from the Goan Hindus, called KhatKhate. Also, as I'm trying to use up my stock of dried pulses, I decided to combine two recipes I found from Mahek and Ashwini. So here's my version - not sure how 'Goan' it really is now!

KhatKhate (Claire's Version)

1/4 cup Tur Dal
1/4 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Vatana (dried peas), soaked overnight
2-3 cups of Veggies, chunked (Veggies like pumpkin, radish, carrot, potato, yam, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, sweetcorn)
1/2 cup grated coconut
2 dried red chillies
1/2 teaspoon haldi (turmeric) powder
2 Tirphal/Peppercorns, crushed
A marble of Jaggery
1 teaspoon Tamarind paste
Salt to taste


1. Soak the Tur Dal and Peanuts for 2 hours
2. Take the Vatana, add water and cook in a pressure cooker for 4 whistles. Drain and keep aside.
3. Using a large pan, bring some water to the boil, and add the veggies to cook - don't just dump them all in together, first put the veggies that take longest to cook. Use very little water to cook the veggies.
4. Grind the coconut, red chillies and haldi to a fine paste with a little water to help.
5. Take a little of the cooking water in a bowl and add the jaggery and tamarind paste. stir until smooth.
6. Once veggies are cooked, add the crushed tirphal/peppercorns, the ground coconut paste, the cooked vatana, the tur dal and peanuts. Add a little water if necessary.
7. Add the jaggery and tamarind water and salt to taste.
8. Simmer until done.

EAT!

It should look something like this...made by
Sheetal

Well, I may be back sometime early next week with another post...If not, then catch you in two weeks :)