A delicacy that you will only find in a Mangalorean household is Malabar spinach or basale in coconut gravy with clams. It is just mouth watering.
Called Basale Marwai Gassi, instead of clams, you can add shrimps or crabs and it will still taste as good.
Sunita Harisinghani offers her special recipe for this dish, that uses a variety of spices, tamarind, tomatoes along with the seafood and greens. Sunita's specialty is her native Mangalorean cooking but she also cooks a range of north Indian, especially Sindhi food, and experiments with other types of cuisines.
Basale Marwai Gassi
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- 300 gm basale or Malabar spinach
- 2-3 medium-sized tomatoes, diced
- 15-20 clams
- 3-4 dried red chillies
- 2 tsp brown dhania or coriander seeds
- ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ½ tsp jeera or cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp methi or fenugreek seeds
- ¼ tsp ajwain or carom seeds
- ½ fresh coconut, grated
- ½ onion, diced
- ¼ tsp hing or asafoetida
- 4-5 pods garlic
- 1 marble-sized ball imli or tamarind, optional
- 7-8 curry leaves
- 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- Salt to taste, about 1½ tsp
- 1-2 cups water
Method
- Wash the Malabar spinach.
Cut into medium-sized pieces and keep aside - Wash the clams and in a saucepan, over medium heat, steam them in a little water till the clams open up.
Take off heat and cool. - Once cool, take each shell and keep the side with flesh on it and discard the fleshless side.
Keep aside. - Dry roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, ajwain on a tawa over medium heat.
Take off heat and cool. - In a grinder, add the roasted ingredients along with the coconut, onion, garlic, tamarind and a little water, to make a paste.
Keep aside. - Pressure cook the Malabar spinach with the salt, tomatoes, over medium heat, for 2-3 whistles.
Once cooled, open the pressure cooker add in the steamed clams, ground masala, turmeric powder.
Ajust the consistency by adding water and let it simmer 5-8 minutes.
Add more salt if required and take off heat. - In a small frying pan or tadka/tempering pan heat the oil and add the jeera, curry leaves, asafoetida.
Add to the curry. - Serve hot with steamed rice.
Editor's Note: In season add jackfruit seed, with the clams or instead of the clams, if vegetarian.
Sunita Harisinghani lives in Navi Mumbai.
