A is for AMTI

This article is first of a special series called "The A-Z of Marathi food". India is the land of diversity. Each of the 28 states in India has a unique cuisine but the Indian food served in restaurants represents only a tiny fraction of our culinary heritage. I come from the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Capital: Bombay (Mumbai). Population: 96 million (only 11 countries in the world have a population higher than Maharashtra). Language: Marathi. Traditional Marathi food is earthy and humble, diverse and very tasty. It also remains relatively unknown to non-marathis. Its time to change that. I invite you to join me on an alphabetical culinary tour of my state. We will go through the letters A to Z and make a dish with each letter to show-case the cuisine that I grew up with.

A is for Amti.
Every evening, in millions of homes in Maharastra, the following dinner is served: Amti-Bhaat-Bhaji. Translated as lentil dal, rice and vegetable. So amti is the special way of preparing lentils or dal in Maharashtra. Amti is a little spicy, a little sweet and a little tangy. The word amti can also used to describe other curried preparations, but the amti dal stands solid as the pillar of everyday food, making it a perfectly fitting start to our food journey.
Amti is a good illustration of the generous use of jaggery or unrefined sugar in Marathi cooking. Sugarcane is a very important crop in that part of the country and jaggery is produced and used in abundance, lending a slight sweetish tinge to even savory foods. Amti is a very basic dal and only requires a spice mixture that can be easily made ahead of time and stored. Last time I visited my home-town of Kolhapur, I visited a friend of my mom's. As luck would have it, she was grinding a huge batch of amti masala for herself that morning and when she asked me if I would like some, I went "yes, yes, yes" and got myself a hefty bag of wonderful authentic amti masala. How is that for good timing? For my readers, here is a amti masala recipe from a marathi masala handbook.

Amti Masala
(from "Lajjatdar Masale" by Mrs. Vaijayanti Kelkar)

1/2 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cup cumin seeds
2 tsp Shahi jeera (black cumin seeds)
10-12 cloves
1 inch cinnamon

Roast all the spices together on very low heat till they turn a couple of shades darker. Then grind together to a fine powder and store in a dry container.

Now for making the amti. Its really easy.

Amti
1 cup toor dal (yellow split peas), cooked
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoetida
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tsp amti masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar
1 tbsp minced cilantro for garnish

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan. Make a "tadka" of mustard seeds, jeera seeds and asafoetida. Add curry leaves, onion and fry till onion is transluscent. Add amti masala, turmeric, salt, chilli powder and fry for a few seconds. Now add the cooked dal and enough water to make it the desired consistency. Finally stir in tamarind, jaggery and bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes and your amti is ready. Taste it and adjust the salt, tamarind and jaggery till you are happy with the balance of flavors. Garnish with cilantro.


Amti is best served with fresh steamed rice and a dollop of ghee. I served amti with rice, radish-cucumber salad and an eggplant-potato dish, with a side of papad for a very satisfying dinner. Watch out for the letter "B" in a few days! Any guesses what "B" will be?