Maharashtrian
Ratalchya Kees
- Duration: 20 minutes
- Serves: 2-4 people
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Spice Level: Medium
Authenticity Slice
Traditionally, kees should not be neither mushy nor lumpy. The sweet potato must retain a slightly crunchy texture so pay attention while cooking and keep sprinkling water to prevent it from over cooking or sticking to the bottom of the pan.
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Trivia Tadka
For Maharashtrians, Navratri is an auspicious time to initiate new beginnings like buying jewellery, a new car or even a house, however, it is also an austere festival that dictates a special menu and abstinence from certain foods. Kees is one such popular dish from "upvasache jevan" meaning a fasting meal.
Ingredients
- Sweet potato (shakarkandi), peeled and grated (2 cups)
- Roasted peanut powder (moongfali) (1/3 cup)
- Clarified butter (ghee) (2-3 tbsp)
- Cumin seeds (jeera) (1 tsp)
- Green chillies (hari mirch) (1 tsp)
- Sugar (2-3 tsp) (2-3 tsp)
- Lemon (nimbu) juice (2–3 tbsp)
- Fresh coconut (nariyal) (1/4 cup)
- Coriander leaves (hara dhaniya) (2 tbsp, optional)
- Salt (to taste)
Method
- Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Grate them with the bigger hole section of the grater.
- Heat ghee in a kadhai, add cumin seeds and green chillies, cook for a minute.
- Add in grated sweet potatoes and cook for about 4–5 mins, stirring often to prevent them from burning.
- Sprinkle few tablespoons of water if the mix gets too dry. Cover and cook for another 2–3 mins.
- Add salt, sugar and roasted peanut powder, cover and cook again for a minute until dry.
- Now stir in the scraped fresh coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Add lemon juice and mix well.
- Serve this sweet-salty recipe hot along with a bowl of curd.