Maat ki Phalli Khatta

Maat ki Phalli or cluster beans...I have a love hate relationship with them. I really crave them sometimes and sometimes I do not want to even see them. Right now I am going through the "loving it" phase and this is one of my fav recipes.

Maat Ki Phalli Khatta (Cluster beans in tamarind gravy)

Maat ki phalli khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of cluster beans cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 2 cups of juice from a lime sized tamarind
3. 2 tablespoons rice flour
4. 1 tablespoon each of oil, roasted peanuts powder
5. 1/2 cup chopped red onion
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, turmeric, chopped garlic
7. 2 green chillies
8. few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker add the oil and heat it. Add cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add cluster beans and fry for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and close the cooker and cook for 3 whistles.

If you are not using cooker then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with white rice and shrimp

Amaranth Shrimp fry (Dry peanut based leafy vegetable and Shrimp fry)

Thota kura Shrimp fry

Ingredients:

1. 2-3 cups chopped Amaranth leaves (Thota kura)
2. 12 oz medium shrimp peeled and deveined
3. 1 cup chopped onions
4. 2 tablespoon oil
5. ½ teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, urad dal, mustard seeds, chopped ginger, chopped garlic
6. 1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
7. 2 dried red chillies

Dry roast

1. 2 tablespoons peanuts
2. 2 dried red chillies (reduce if you like less spicy)
3. Few curry leaves
4. 1 tablespoon dried coconut
5. 1 teaspoon cumin

Dry roast the ingredients under dry roast and let cool. Grind to a fine paste

In a pan heat the oil and add urad dal and mustard seeds along with broken chillies and curry leave. Fry for a minute. Add chopped onions and fry till they start turning brown. Add ginger and garlic pieces and fry for a minute. Add chopped thota kura and add salt and turmeric and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add shrimp and all the other spices and cook for 10 minutes. Add ground peanut powder and mix well. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot steamy rice