In Goa, I learned how to cook several Gaud Saraswat Brahmin recipes. This Raw Mango Uddamethi was one of them. It consists of koftas made with raw banana, served in a curry that contains the earthiness of coconut milk and the sharp tastes of raw mango and fenugreek.

  • Serves

    4

  • Cook Time

    00 h 45 m

Ingredients

For Curry

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • ¾ cup peeled and diced raw mango
  • ¼ cup baby fenugreek, loosely packed
  • 4-5 tbsp palm jaggery
  • 3-4 tbsp tamarind paste
  • 2 tbsp fried urad dal (store bought)
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp mustard seeds
  • 20 Kashmiri red chillies, medium-sized
  • 5 whole black peppercorns

For Raw Banana Kofta

  • 1 cup boiled raw banana
  • ¼ cup paneer, grated
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1 tbsp raisins, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh green chillies, chopped
  • Oil to deep fry

To Crumb

  • Bread crumbs
  • 1 cup refined flour
  • ½ cup water

Preparation

  1. In a mixer, blend the chillies, turmeric and black pepper to a fine paste with 500 ml water.
  2. Simmer this mix in a heavy-bottomed saucepan for around 20 minutes until the raw flavour disappears. Strain and reserve.
  3. In a separate pot, cook the raw mango and jaggery with 1 litre water till it is thick and cooked out. This will take around 15 minutes on medium flame.
  4. Let it cool and then blend this raw mango mix in a large mixer jar until smooth.
  5. In a pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
  6. Pour in smooth raw mango paste and strained chilli pepper mixture. Reduce by half.
  7. Once reduced, add coconut milk and bring to a boil. The resultant curry will be sweet, tangy and creamy. Cool and reserve.

For Kofta

  1. Mash the raw banana in a bowl, add all other ingredients and mix well. It should come together almost like a homogenous dough. Season with salt.
  2. Shape into cylinders the size of your index finger.
  3. Crumb with a mix of flour, water and breadcrumbs.

To Serve

  1. Fry the kofta balls in oil.
  2. Heat the curry.
  3. When ready to serve, place the koftas in the gravy, and add baby fenugreek. Sprinkle the fried urad dal on top for added texture.
Written by

Hussain Shahzad

Hussain Shahzad, the Executive Chef at O Pedro, a Goa-inspired restaurant in Mumbai, is Scroll Food’s Chef of the Month for October. He started his career with the Oberoi Group of Hotels in Mumbai, before moving to New York, where he worked at the iconic Eleven Madison Park. His culinary adventures have taken him around the world and included a brief stint as a personal chef to Roger Federer. Before taking the reins at O Pedro, he was a part of the team at the award-winning The Bombay Canteen. A dynamic and bold chef, Hussain’s food philosophy is to showcase local produce using contemporary culinary techniques.

See more by Hussain Shahzad