Recipe for Ireel/Snake Beans/Long Beans/Eeril Bhaji
Recipe for Ireel/Snake Beans/Long Beans/Eeril Bhaji
This Vegetable has a very close place to heart because It has a very Goan emotion to it. This bhaji is called Snake Beans or Long Beans because of it’s long length and it’s look similar to that of a snake. In Konkani, this is called Eeril/Irvil/Irveel/Virvil/Iril/and so many different pronunciations. The pronunciation and spellings differ in South Goa and North Goa. I am from North Goa and My Mom has always called it “Ireel” bhaji so I’d just like to stick to that 😊 I had a nice brief discussion with my Goan Food Blogger friends and my aunt as well. All gave me different spellings! So cool I thought, I should use them all 😊I love to eat Ireel Bhaji with Fish curry and Rice in a foogath style(plain with coconut and no masalas). And my Mum always says there’s more fun in hand-breaking each bean than cutting it. So, that’s exactly how I break my beans and trust me, it’s so exciting to do it.These days, I’ve been craving to eat a nice Veg dish with Hot Chapatis. I had bought a nice big bunch of Ireel Bhaji so I decided I’ll experiment something different with this batch. It turned out So delish so I thought I must share it with all of you. Do give it a try
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 500 gms Ireel Bhaji/Snake Beans/Long Beans
- 1 large Onion – chopped fine
- 1 Large Tomato – chopped fine
- 1 Large Potato – diced(peel, wash, dice and soak in water)
- 2 Green Chillies – chopped fine
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 4-6 Gralic cloves – roughly crushed
- 1 Tspn Mustard Seeds
- 1 Tspn Cumin Seeds
- 1 Tspn Turmeric Powder
- 1 Tspn Chilly Powder
- 1 Tspn Dry Coriander Seed Powder
- 3 Tspn Fresh Grated Coconut
- A small piece of Jagger or ½ Tspn Sugar
- 4-5 sprigs Fresh Coriander with Stem – chopped fine
- 1.5 Tspn Salt or as per taste
- 2 Tbspn Oil
Instructions
- Roughly Hand break the Snake Beans and transfer it into a bowl
- Add some water into the bowl and keep it for 10 minutesNote: washing the cut beans later helps incase there is any dirt or small insects which sometimes could be inside the bean. If any, it floats on the surface
- In a skillet, heat the Oil on medium heat and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds once the oil turns hot
- Then add the curry leaves and the crushed Garlic
- When the Garlic begins to turn Brown, add the Onion and Chillies and let it cook well
- Once the Onion turn translucent, add the Potatoes and allow it cook until it has a slight brownish coatingNote: Ensure the Potatoes are peeled and soaked in water. Once Potatoes are peeled and kept open, they get oxidized and turn black. Hence, always kept peeled Potatoes in waterBefore Adding the Potatoes into the skillet, discard all the water
- Then add the Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt, Sugar and Tomatoes. Mix it well and cover the PanThe tomatoes act as a Natural source of moisture and it will help the Potatoes cook further without it getting burnt or stuck to the vessel
- After about 5-7 minutes, discard all the water off the snakebeans and transfer the snakebeans into the skillet. Add the Coconut too and give it a mix and put the lid onLet the Vegetable cook in it’s own juices and water. Do not add any water
- After 7-10 minutes, take off the lid and check the Veg and Potatoes, if done and there’s no water, add the chopped coriander and mix for2-3 minutes. If there is water, increase the heat and allow the water to evaporate and the add the Coriander
- Enjoy this Simple yet flavour packed Veggie nice and Hot with Hot Chapatis. So Yum!
