Varyache Tandul Danyachi Aamti

(cooked samo seeds with a spicy-sweet peanut curry)

Another favorite from the upwas (fasting) menu. My aji’s patent recipe! The good thing about this dish is its one of the healthier ‘fasting’ dishes. I satisfy my cravings for sabudanyachi khichadi with this, as it does not require soaking and you can literally out it together in 15 minutes. Samo seeds (varaiche tandul) are healthy and the curry is basically a peanut soup! not bad, eh?!

You will need: (Makes 2 servings)

for the samo rice:
samo seeds, washed 1/2 cup
hot water 1.5 cups
1/2 tsp ghee
salt

For the danyachi aamti (Peanut curry):

1/2 cup danyacha koot – peanut powder (roasted and crushed, without skin) – I highly recommend freshly grinding this in a mortar and pestle to get a smooth creamy consistency. koot ground in the grinder doesn’t give the same consistency and tends to be watery.

1 tsp ghee/ oil

1-2 green chillies – crushed
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 dried amsul (dried garcinia indica/ kokum) or kokum agal (I used agal)
salt and jaggery or sugar to taste

For the rice:

• n a large saucepan, sauté the samo seeds on ghee and add hot water and salt.
• Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes on low flame, check every once in a while. Keep covered for a few minutes after turning the flame off.

For the Amti:

• In a pan, heat the ghee and add cumin seeds and green chillies.
• add peanut powder to this and fry for a minute, till the peanut powder takes a nice golden hue and gives off the perfect aroma
• Add 1.5-2 cups of water and bring it to a simmer
• Add amsul/ kokum agal to the mixture. you can also add tamarind pulp or lemon juice
• The curry will start to thicken as it boils. Add more water as required,
• Add salt and jaggery/ sugar according to taste (this is supped to be sweet and spicy!)
• Let the curry boil thoroughly
• Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro

Serve together piping hot with some more ghee on top if you like 🙂