Fresh cashew nuts!!! If you have never tasted them, you are missing something. A creamy crunchy seasonal delicacy that grows on the western coast of India these nuts are a must-try. We are using them in a curry today along with a vegetable and the fresh cashews are what make this Upkari dish unforgettable.
Don’t fret if you cannot find the fresh ones, you can always get a bag of the dried ones, soak them till they soften and use them in the curry. Then close your eyes and imagine you are biting into a fresh one 😊
Upkari is a dry vegetable curry in Saraswat cuisine and can be made with a variety of vegetables. Upkari in Konkani refers to a stir-fry of any vegetable (usually green) and is quite a medley of sweet and savoury flavours. It is the Indian version of a stir-fry. Quick to make with minimum ingredients, it is a power pack of textures and flavours. As the recipe has no onion or garlic it is often prepared during festive occasions. I have fond memories of gorging on tendle bibbe upkari on a banana leaf during wedding lunches.
Tendle bibbe upkari gets its name from its two main ingredients; tendle which is ivy gourd and bibbe which is cashew nut. Tendle or ivy gourd is a tiny green vegetable from the cucumber family. It grows on creepers and are best harvested when tender and crunchy. As they ripen, they tend to grow red and go soft and do not make the best upkari. The best fruiting time for this vegetable is summer and monsoon.
Tendle is a very easy plant to grow. So, if you are interested in harvesting your own do give it a try. With a little TLC this low maintenance vegetable vine will give you a little crop. Maybe you will harvest enough tendle for upkari for one, but it will be worth it.
To make the Upkari you will need the following ingredients:
250 grams tendle/ ivy gourd
1 heaped cup of bibbe/ tender cashew nuts peeled and halved
¾ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal / split black gram
2 dried red chillies broken into halves
2 slit green chillies (optional, increase red chillies if skipping this)
A pinch of hing/ asafoetida
A sprig of fresh curry leaves
½ cup freshly scraped coconut
Salt to taste
Method:
- If using unpeeled cashew nuts, soak them in warm water for at least an hour to soften the skin. Then peel the skins and halve them. If using the dried peeled variety make sure they are unroasted and unsalted. Soak them for 4-5 hours till they soften.
- Scrub off any dirt off the tendle and wipe dry. Slit them and into quarters lengthwise.
- In a thick bottom kadhai / wok, add the oil and warm it. Using an iron kadhai will have health benefits.
- Reduce the heat and add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add urad dal / split black gram and let it turn golden. Then put in the hing/ asafoetida, red chillies and curry leaves. Roast these till fragrant keeping the heat on minimum.
- Now add the sliced tendle/ ivy gourd and mix well with spice ingredients. Add 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook on medium heat till the tendle/ ivy gourd are half cooked.
- Put in the soaked and drained cashew nut and salt. Cover and continue cooking till both tendle/ ivy gourd is cooked and cashews are tender. The tendle / ivy gourd should be cooked but retain shape. Don’t overcook or they will get mushy.
- Turn of the flame and garnish with freshly scraped coconut.
- Upkari goes beautifully with a dal-rice combo. You could even have it with Indian breads like chappatis or puris.
Some notes:
- Some folks add ½ tsp of dark jaggery when the vegetable is cooked. This would depend on your taste. Experiment and see if you like it this way.
- Sometimes you are out of cashews but find some tendle / ivy gourd in the fridge when you are looking for something else. Worry not, you can add the vegetable or rather root to the rescue, the potato and make a tendle batate upkari. Just slice them into strips and pop them in with the tendle/ ivy gourd. This root veggie is always around and can help you increase the quantity of the upkari. And who does not love a potato?
- Be generous with the coconut gratings in the end. It is not just a garnish for the dish but it is quite a star in itself. If really brings the upkari together.
- Urad dal/ split black gram is skipped by some but I quite like their crunch.
- And here is an untested note for the brave. I’ve heard this mentioned in a community kitchen during a festive feast. You may want to try it if you are short on time. Add salt to the raw sliced tendle /ivy gourd an let it sit for about 10 minutes. The salt can be washed off before adding to the kadhai / wok for the upkari. This apparently cures the vegetable and reduces cooking time.
Trivia – This vegetable is also apparently known as gentlemen’s toes due to its shape.
Enjoy this gem of a stir fry from the Saraswat kitchen in your own home.
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Bhakti’s love for food started long before she could reach the kitchen platform of her home. She would climb up on to a wooden stool to watch her grandmother and mother create magic with the simplest of ingredients. She was banished from the kitchen as a punishment when she pushed her sister off the stool one day in her curiosity to find out how golden a gulab jamun could get. She was only allowed to return when she promised to follow the rules of the kitchen. And to this day, she has not breached those rules. She loves cooking simple traditional food made with local ingredients and is always looking for grandmas and aunties who can share the long lost secrets from their kitchens.
