Teppal is a very special spice that’s widely used in Konkani cuisine. It resembles black peppercorn but, it has a unique lemony peppery taste. If we bite or chew it we Konkanis say our jeeb MirMirTha (means our tongue and taste buds start dancing jinga la la). It is also called as Tirphal in Hindi and Marathi, Jummankai in Kannada, Sichuan/Szechuan pepper in Chinese, Sanshō in Japanese, In Nepali Timur or Timbur, while in Tibetan it is known as Yer ma and in Bhutan as Thingye. With whatever name you call it, it makes your taste buds mirmir 😉 So, we Konkanis use this unique spice mainly in coconut based curries especially fish curries and there are two rules to follow while using teppal!
1. Always the masol(coconut masala) must be very very smooth and fine.
2. Every time you make teppla ambat(curries with teppal) pour a generous amount of coconut oil on top of it while serving.
This particular recipe is a vegetarian teppal curry with homegrown green peas and potatoes. We can even use dried green peas by soaking it overnight and cook it in a cooker and then make the curry. It tastes heavenly with rice, some phodi / upkari and coconut oil on top of it!
Vatane Batate Teppla Ambat - Traditional Green Peas Potato Curry With Sichuan Pepper.
Ingredients
- Green Peas - 1 cup
- Potatoes - 3 cubed
- Tomato (optional)
- Soak in Water:
- Teppal - 10 to 12
- kokum - 4 to 5 pieces.
- For Masala:
- 1/2 of the Coconut
- Dried red chilies - 5 ( depending upon the hotness of the chilly you are using)
- turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
- Coconut Oil (Mandatory) 🙂
Instructions
1.Cook the veggies in cooker for 1 whistle.
2.Soak teppal and kokum for 10 minutes.
3.Make a smooth fine paste with coconut, red chilly and turmeric.
4.Add the ground masala to the cooked veggies
5.Put the soaked teppal and kokum
6.Use the soaked water to wash mixer and add it to make the curry thin. Add water as required to get a thin consistency(once its boiled ,it gets thick) and now switch on the gas.
7.Bring a good boil till the froth disappers.
8.Switch off the gas.
9.Add a spoon full of coconut oil
10.Stir and Close the lid .
11.Serve hot with rice
.
Notes
- The teppal can be discarded before serving.
- Never grind teppal with coconut masala to avoid any unpleasant taste while eating.
- Always use only the outer shell of teppal and discard the seeds.