MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Kolhapuri Aamti

Kolhapuri Aamti

The Kolhapuri Aamti is a recipe which is very close to my heart and associated with childhood memories. I spent a good amount of my childhood in Kolhapur and every die-hard Kolhapuri can relate to fascination of this special recipe which is utmost basic and simple, yet, divinely tasty.

As Kolhapur is famous for wrestling, wrestlers and milk diet, there was no place for tea at all in the earlier days. If you happened to visit anybody’s house or vice versa, you would always be asked by the lady of the house “Khatos ka Baba thodasa Bhaat Samabara” (Will you eat some rice daal?). Daal and rice were always a staple here and readily available in every household and the taste of this awesome combination lingers on till date.

The Daal is made with Kolhapuri Kaala Masala which lends that unique flavour to it. The spiciness of the daal would be reduced by adding milk cream and you need to taste this combination of rice, daal and milk cream to experience this exceptional dish. Kolhapur area is famous for various strains of indigenous rice too, so, maybe the rice also added to that special taste.

I am giving the recipe of my version of Kolhapuri Aamti, it does not match the greatness of my grandmother’s recipe though; it was a class apart altogether.

Ingredients

Tur Daal/Arhar Daal/Pigeon Peas (split, without cover) – 1 large katori or you can take a combination of half of Tur/Arhar Daal and half of yellow moong daal (split green gram)

Water – Approximately 1 litre

Salt- As per taste

Turmeric Powder – Half taespoon

Cumin Powder- Half Teaspoon

Asafoetida – ¼ teaspoon

Oil- 2 tablespoons

Curry Leaves – 10-12

Mustard Seeds (Badi or Moti  Rai)– 1 teaspoon

Garlic – 10-12 cloves

Dry Coconut (grated) – 1 tablespoon

Kolhapuri Kaala Masala/Kanda Lasun Masala – 1½ teaspoon

Method

Wash the daal well and add water, turmeric powder, salt, cumin powder, asafoetida and cook in pressure cooker on medium flame till 3 whistles are done. Once, the pressure is released, churn the daal mixture well to form a homogenous mixture. For tempering, heat oil in a utensil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, crushed garlic and dry coconut and Kolhapuri Kaala Masala. Remove from fire and transfer this tempering to the plain daal. Bring to a boil. Serve hot with roti or rice, topped with ghee.

Note – Cooking time is approximately 45 minutes and this quantity should be enough for 4/5 persons.

Daal (pulses) is the most essential component of Indian diet. Daal is significant source providing proteins and different parts of the country, varieties of various Daals are prepared in different ways. In Maharashtra, Tur Daal (Arhar Daal, Pigeon Pea) is used primarily for daily use. It can be made into a plain, bland recipe with turmeric, asafoetida and cumin or it can be tempered with different ingredients like curry leaves, garlic, garlic ginger, green chilly, red chilly, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, masalas, curry powders and one can add tomatoes, coriander leaves, jaggery etc to enhance the taste.

Phodni/Tadka means tempering and Waran is plain Daal, a basic bland recipe with just turmeric, salt, little cumin powder and asafoetida.