My close friend and neighbour had been to mangalore and she got us a fresh bunch of basale and jeegujje (bread fruit).When I thought of posting this recipe,I realised I did not know the English name for basale. So I did what I am an expert in doing and my most used sentence "just google it ".and this is what I found from wikipedia,I just copied and pasted it :)Basella is a fast-growing, soft-stemmed vine, reaching 10 m in length. Its thick, semi-succulent, heart-shaped leaves have a mild flavour .
English name: Malabar-, Malabar climbing-, Ceylon-, Indian-, East-Indian-, Surinam-, Chinese-, Vietnamese- or buffalo spinach (although it is not closely related to spinach), as well as Malabar nightshade or broad bologi.
wow I did not know basale grows in China and Vietnam too,I thought it was grown only in South canara - Iam such a frog in a well.
Ingredients
Print this recipe- 1 bunch basale
- 1 tomato
- 7 roasted red chillies (4 long and 3 small)
- 2 tsp roasted coriander seeds
- 1/4 tsp roasted cumin seeds
- marble size tamarind
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup freshly grated coconut
- salt to taste
- 3 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 7 to 8 crushed garlic
- 1 red chilly
- 10 to 12 curry leaves
Method
- Separate the leaves from the stem and roughly chop the leaves, cut the stem to 4 inch pieces.Put the leaves and the stem into a pressure cooker,add 1 chopped tomato and 1 cup water,pressure cook for 2 whistles or until done.
- Grind coconut,red chillies,coriander seeds,cumin seeds,turmeric,tamarind using little water into a thick and fine paste.
- Open the cooker and add the ground paste and cook on medium flame,add salt.bring to boil and cook till the raw smell of the ground masala disappears .
- Keep a vessel on medium flame and add oil,when oil is hot add mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustard seeds start popping,add crushed garlic,curry leaves and red chilly.Now add the basale gravy into the vessel.Or just pour the seasoning into the gravy.
- Serve with rice.
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