We all live in the generation where the taste for authentic recipes are fading off. It is difficult to hold onto to our grandma’s recipes or the recipe that has been passed on to us from generation to generation. But yet, here we are trying our best to hold on to our traditional roots and bring back the essence of authentic home cooking.
In this article, we will be taking you to the most flavour packed coastal cuisine that lies in the thin line over the west coast of India. Konkani cuisine shares a similar cooking style from the three of their neighbouring states which are Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
People from this region believe to cook dishes from the ingredients that are locally available in the market and especially rely on vegetables that are grown in their backyard. So if you plan to visit this place anytime you would see most of the houses are attached to a big Backyard that have vegetables. You will also notice that it is not just vegetables that they grow but also filled with coconut trees, thus explains why there is a lot of coconut usage in their cooking. Coconut oil is also one of the essential ingredients that lifts the flavour of the dish. By using coconut oil, we not only add flavour but is also a healthier option to cook.
Most of the commonly used vegetable in their cooking are Mangalore cucumber, Ridge Gourd, Yam, Snake Gourd, Pumpkin, and Raw Jackfruit. These vegetables are used to make various kind of dishes like Upkaris (a simple vegetarian preparation with fresh coconut shavings), Talasanis (a stir fried version of a vegetarian side dish), Randayis (the vegetable is combined with a lentil and has a coconut base), Sukkhe/Sagle (similar to randiyas but they have a dry coconut paste), Phodis (a masala which is coated on a slice of vegetable and fried).
Gravies are generally called as “Ambat” which can be made in two different ways, one from coconut and the other way is by using lentils. Rasam are referred to as Saaru in Konkan region.
Konkani are mainly non veg eaters and they prefer Seafood rather than meat or poultry as they stay so close by to the beach. Non veg dishes like fishy curry, fish fry, prawn masala, oyster curry and mussles are very commonly eaten during the weekday.
Kokum is one of the popular Ingredients used in most of their cooking.The kokum fruit is largely produced in this Konkan region and used as an astringent or souring agent in many of the curries. It is consumed in one of the popular drink from Konkan which is the Solkadhi.
Here we have listed out our collections of Konkani Recipes that you would like to try them out at your home.
