Valval is a very famous Konkani(Amchi curry) that has a mild taste and very pleasant aroma. It is also called Yogirathna. My ajja(Grandfather) used to say that it was called yogirathna because it was fit for yogis as they never ate anything spicy. Spice was supposed to induce anger in a person so yogis never ate spicy food.When I was a kid I used to hate valval and everyone at home loved it. But when I started going to college amma was transferred to Bangalore. I, dad and my Bappi(my dad's younger brother actually bappa but I call him bappi, was staying with us then) used to manage cooking. It was then that I started missing this curry. Amma used to come home on second saturday of every month. We used to eagerly wait for her to come home. The day she reached home we made only breakfast & rest of the duties were left to her. Poor amma never got rest. Valval was usually on top of our list on those days. After eating this we usually felt drowsy because of the coconut milk and everyone used to take a big nap ;). Annu used to ask later that day, if any one had eastman colour dreams as coconut milk used to cause pittha. Anyways, growing up I have loved this curry a lot and also with ready-made coconut milk it hardly takes anytime if you have the vegetables ready. I would like it to be my very first post on this blog.Whats needed?
*2 cups vegetables like
AshGourd, Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Potato - Sliced
Gerkins(Cut into disc like peices)
Yard long beans - chopped
Tender cashews or cashew soaked in warm water for 1/2 an hour
(Above mentioned vegetables are traditionally used in Mangalore for this dish but since we dont get Gerkins here, I skipped it. I also added few slices of Carrot)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1/4 cup thick coconut milk diluted with water as required to boil the veggies.
3-4 green chillies
Salt to taste
For seasoning
1/2 tsp oil (Coconut oil preferably)
few curry leaves(I skipped as I dont get it here)
1 tsp jeera
Procedure:
1)Boil the veggies + green chilies + cashews with diluted coconut milk without using cooker. I added ash gourd and pumpkin at last i.e after rest of the vegetables were 3/4th done as it gets boiled easily.The veggies should not be over cooked it should retain their shape.
2)When veggies are boiled add salt and coconut milk. Give it a good boil takes around 7-8 mins and switch off the gas.
3)Heat oil in a seasoning pan and add cumin seeds. When they start spluttering and curry leaves and let it for a while. Remove it from flame and add it to the curry.
Serve hot with rice.
There are a lot of variations in making valval but this was how my amma used to make it.
PS: If using coconut milk that is extracted at home my amma used to grind 1 tbsp of white rice soaked in water for some time. This was to give thickness to the curry. This is added after the coconut milk is added.But I omitted this as I used very thick coconut milk.
3)Heat oil in a seasoning pan and add cumin seeds. When they start spluttering and curry leaves and let it for a while. Remove it from flame and add it to the curry.
Serve hot with rice.
There are a lot of variations in making valval but this was how my amma used to make it.
PS: If using coconut milk that is extracted at home my amma used to grind 1 tbsp of white rice soaked in water for some time. This was to give thickness to the curry. This is added after the coconut milk is added.But I omitted this as I used very thick coconut milk.
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