Alsande Randai – Yardlong beans curry

This is a very quick and simple coconut based curry made from yardlong beans. We call it Alsande Randai in Konkani. Alsande means yard-long beans or snake beans and randai means curry. This goes well with rice and is generally served in lunch and dinner.

Ingredients for the base masala

• 1 Cup freshly grated Coconut
• 7-8 Dry red chillies (Byadgi chillies)
• 1 tbsp Urad Dal (split black gram)
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1⁄4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• Pinch of turmeric
• Small gooseberry sized tamarind

Ingredients for the curry

• 500 grams yard-long beans.
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp jaggery.
• salt to taste

Method

Let us prepare the base masala for this curry. This masala can be used as the base for other curries too like okra curry, ivy gourd curry, etc.

1. Take the oil in a pan and fry the dried red chilies, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, and urad dal until it gets light brown. Keep aside and let it cool.
2. Put some warm water in a bowl and add the tamarind to it, so that it melts and turns into a liquid paste.
3. Grind the fried spices with grated coconut and tamarind water into a fine paste.
4. After washing cut the yard-long beans into 1 inch long pieces, bring it to boil in a curry pot. This curry is not thick so use about 1 liter of water.

5. Once the water starts to boil add salt according to your taste. The beans shouldn’t be overcooked and they should have a bit of crunchiness to them.
6. Now also add the masala paste that we prepared in step 3 into the pot. Add the jaggery to the pot, this enhances the taste of the curry.

7. Now for tempering, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds. When the seeds start to crackle add curry leaves. Once the leaves start splattering quickly empty the pan into the curry pot and quickly close the lid to seal the aroma. Take some care while doing this the mustard seeds, curry leaves can splatter hot oil on your skin, there might also be some smoke while adding it to the pot.
8. Turn off the heat and serve hot with steamed rice and one of the side dishes that I have shared.

I am sure you will enjoy this dish. Please email me and tell me about your experience cooking this recipe.