Week 12: Lashney Tambli

One of my all time favourite aamchi dishes since childhood, it is the perfect summer delight. Cool and tangy. Whenever I reminisce about my holidays in India, and the lovely sunny days, the thing I fondly remember is having lashney tambli with rice, and pappad!

Tambli or tambuli seems to be derived from the Kannada word 'thampu', which means cool or cold, and is made mostly from grinding raw ingredients and spices and then mixing it with yogurt. There are two main tamblis I know of, and they're simple to remember - green, and red/orange. The green tambli is made with tender greens (leafy vegetables) like cauliflower greens, and the red version with garlic (hence the 'lashne') and red chillies.

I made two versions of the red tambli - one with yogurt, which Anushree had, and one vegan version (using kokam) for my brother and myself. The rich orange-red colour is so appealing!

As you will have seen so far, aamchi dishes are just so simple - but this one takes simplicity to the next level. Tamblis are a great accompaniment to rice, but also to drink on its own!

I do have to say though, raw garlic breath is probably not the most ideal so you may want to consider making this dish on a day you're planning to stay at home, or just brush multiple times and eat lots of mints!

Ingredients:

6-8 garlic cloves (Note: It really depends how garlicky you want the tambli and so can use more or less)

4-5 dried red beydgi chillies

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 tsp hing/asafoetida

3-4 heaped tbsp yogurt (for the non-vegan version) OR

4-5 kokum peels (for the vegan version)

1-2 tsp salt (to taste)

Method:

1. Soak the kokum peels in a katori or small bowl of hot water if you want to make a vegan tambli- this enables the pulp to be extracted;

2. Chop the garlic gloves (but doesn't have to be too fine) to make it easier to grind;

3. Add the garlic, red chillies, coconut, hing and salt to the mixer-grinder. Add some water (not too much, but enough so that the ingredients grind well) and grind into a smooth paste.

4. Put the ground paste into a bowl and add either the kokum pulp (i.e. keep massaging the kokum in the water it was soaked in, and then use the water), or yogurt depending on whether it is to be vegan or not. Mix well adding a little bit more water to get a pouring consistency. Note: the consistency should be thin enough to pour easily as an accompaniment for rice (so it's not like thick chutney), but not too thin otherwise the water will separate from the rest of the paste, which you don't want.

Serve with rice and pappads!