Ginger/Inji Curry

Onam is hardly a month away. Till date, I have not made a full fledged Onam Sadhya. This year I intend to, as it falls on a weekend.

And thus, I started my lookout for sadhya vibhavangal.  The inspiration for my onam recipe hunt is a batch of freshers who joined my company I previously worked with. During one of our interactions last year they said that they got together for Onam (malayalees and non-malayalees) and made 28 dishes.

28!!

My mouth fell open, I could not even recollect 28 dishes for sadhya, let alone make it.

This year, a month ahead of Onam I have decided to hunt down recipes from my family and friends. The purpose - definitely is to practice cooking all these recipes before onam and also help similar people like me out there who are hunting for recipes.

Onam or not, Inji curry has been my favorite - its tangy, hot and sweet all in one. I just love it. Apart from pineapple pachadi and payasam, this is my hot favorite. This recipe is from my mother's kitchen.


Ingredients

1. Ginger - 100 gm finely chopped
2. Kashmiri Chilly - 2
3. Green Chilly - 2 finely chopped
4. Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball
5. Kashmiri chilly powder - 1/2 tbsp
6. Jaggery Shavings - 2 tbsp
7. Water - 1 and 1/2 cup
8. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
11. Coconut - small pieces fried or grated coconut fried
12. Curry Leaf
13. Salt to taste
14. Oil

Method

Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice. Boil it for 2 minutes and set aside.

Pour oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Next, add the fenugreek seeds and the curry leaves. 

Once the fenugreek seeds lightly change colour, add the red chilly and finely chopped green chilly.

To this, add the chopped ginger and saute it till the ginger is lightly crisp.

Add the turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Saute till the masala gets cooked. Pour in the tamarind water and add jaggery. Boil for around 5 minutes and remove from heat.

Fry small pieces of coconut or grated coconut and add into the sauce.

Inji curry ready!

You may also note - 

1. Grind half the fried ginger mix into a paste before adding the masala to give a thicker consistency.
2. The consistency of the inji curry will become thicker once it cools down , so do not worry if your inji curry seems a little watery than the usual consistency when cooked.
3. You may substitute jaggery with sugar as well.