“Tonak” is a gravy dish very popular in Goa. Goans generally eat Tonak in the night with the delicious “pao”, “poli” or “uno” (Goan bread)
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups freshly grated coconut
1 onion chopped, lengthwise
6 cloves garlic
1-2 onions, chopped fine
200 grams of mushroom, chopped
A small ball of tamarind
Oil
Salt to taste
½ tsp turmeric
a few springs of coriander
For the masala:
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon jeera
¼ teaspoon Fennel (bedishep)
½ teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)
3-4 red chillies
1-inch piece of cinnamon
4 cloves
4-5 black pepper
1 petal of star aniseed
Few pieces of dagad phool
A small piece of nutmeg (jaiphal)
Jaggery to taste (about 1 tsp)
Salt to taste
Direction:
In a teaspoon of oil fry the red chilies, keep aside. Fry the other ingredients for the masala individually, add oil if necessary. Keep aside.
In the same pan fry the coconut, onion chopped lengthwise and garlic, on low flame till the coconut is reddish brown, use oil if needed. Cool.
Grind to a fine paste the fried masala and coconut mixture with the tamarind and coriander.
In another pan with another two-teaspoon oil, fry the onions till soft and translucent. Then add the chopped mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms till done, adding water if needed.
Add the ground masala paste, turmeric, salt and jaggery. Mix and heat on low flame for about 10 minutes. Spread chopped coriander leaves on top.
Almyanche Tondak (Mushroom Tonak) is ready to serve. Serve hot.
