This post is a shout out to another one of my favorite vegetables – Red amaranth leaves. Have you tried it before? If you haven’t, do try and get your hands on some. It is such a fun vegetable with its beautiful, naturally red color. It is super easy to put together and uses just a few, easy to find ingredients and you have yourself a mildly spiced, flavorful stir fried vegetable. My take on it, uses some grated coconut. Don’t leave the coconut out. It absolutely makes this dish. The name ‘tambdi bhaji’ literally translates to Red Vegetable (in Konkani, Tambdi=red and bhaji=vegetable)
The sad part is, as much as I love this vegetable, I haven’t been able to find these gorgeous leaves in Sydney. When I was back home in Mumbai a month ago, I knew we were going to make a few trips to the local fresh food market. Now, I haven’t spoken about this before, but back when I lived in Mumbai, my first stop to the market was at a little stall run by a local lady (from the Gorai – Manori stretch). There are a couple of such stalls and these ladies bring a gorgeous bounty of produce that they grow on their properties. And this is as close to fresh, chemical free and organic food as you can get (make sure you chat with your vendor to confirm their growing practices). So on one of these trips to the market, my favorite vendor had some gorgeous bunches of red amaranth leaves. Needless to say, I grabbed a couple of massive bunches and ran home to whip it up for lunch.
So without any further rambling, let’s move on to the recipe.
Tambdi Bhaji or Red Amaranth Leaves Stir-fry
Course: SidesCuisine: GoanDifficulty: EasyServings
4
servingsPrep time
20
minutesCooking time
15
minutesVibrant and full of flavour, this red amaranth vegetable dish is sure to stand out at your dinner table.
Ingredients
2 large bunches of red amaranth leaves
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 green chillies, slit
1 onion, chopped
2 heaped tbsp grated coconut
Salt, to taste
Directions
- To prep the vegetable, break off the roots and the woody part of the stems and discard. Wash the leaves under cold, running water and drain. Wash it out a couple of times or till clean. Roughly chop the vegetable and keep aside.
- Heat the oil in a large pot on medium heat. Carefully tip in the mustard seeds.
- When the seeds splutter, add the chillies and let them fry till fragrant.
- Add the onions and saute till they soften and turn slightly pinkish.
- Add the chopped vegetable and stir well to coat it in the oil and onion mix. Let the vegetable stir fry for a couple of minutes. You will notice it wilting already.
- Add some salt, to taste and stir well to mix.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of water and mix through.
- Cover the pot and cook on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes or till the vegetable is tender and most of the water has evaporated.
- Add the grated coconut and stir through. Check for seasoning and add more salt, if needed.
- Cover the pot and let it cook for about another minute to let the coconut heat through.
Serve hot. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
