Cluster Beans Masala (Mitke Sanga Sukke)

Cluster Beans Masala (Mitke Sanga Sukke)

Do you wonder how to pick the best of cluster beans? And, what to make out of them? 
Here's how to pick the tender most cluster beans to make a delicious, spicy side dish. A dish we call 'mitke sanga sukke' in Konkani. Goes great with a simple dal & with the classic Konkani dalithoy
Serve it as a side dish with lots of coconut oil on top or enjoy mixing it with hot rice and loads of coconut oil. Tastes super yum!!

Mitke sang in Konkani means cluster beans and sukke in Konkani means dry side dish. A post dedicated to all you lovely novice cooks out there. 


How to pick tender cluster beans?

While the cluster beans are tender, their seeds are not that prominent from the outside and they are consistently thin. As they ripen/mature the seeds become more prominent from the outside.

The tender most cluster beans like the ones on the left in the picture below are slightly sweet and yummy when cooked. You can say they are tender from the look & feel of these beans. They can be cut into 2 with a slight snap of your fingers. These tender cluster beans are best suited for making this dish. 

The ones on the right are the mature cluster beans. They can be used but won't taste as great as the tender ones. Cluster beans get sturdy as they mature. They aren't a pleasure to eat like the tender ones, due to excess fibre in them. You should be able to tell mature cluster beans from their look & feel too.


Ingredients:

1.5 cups of chopped cluster beans
3/4 cup chopped onions
3/4 cup grated coconut
3-4 tablespoons of oil
4-5 dried red chillies
1 lemon sized tamarind
Salt to taste


Preparation time: 35-40 minutes

Serves: 2-3


Preparing the masala:

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan, fry pieces of dried red chillies for 2-3 minutes. Then let it cool down completely.

2. Then grind them along with grated coconut, tamarind into a smooth-to-coarse paste using as little water as possible and keep it aside.
 

Prepping the cluster beans:

1. Wash the cluster beans well. Snap off the top and the bottom portions of the cluster beans. You can even chop them using a knife.

2. Chop cluster beans into 1cm sized pieces. Or cut them into bite sized pieces using your hands. 

3. While you snap and break the beans, remove any excess fibre hanging out on both sides of the bean.

4. Cook them with salt, 1 cup water till they are cooked through.

5. Decant all the water into a bowl. Keep both the cooked beans and the water used aside.

Preparing the dish (sukke):

6. Peel & finely slice onions.

7. Heat remaining oil in a wok. Fry onions until they start to brown/or until they turn translucent. Add salt to fasten their frying process.

8. Then add in ground masala, 1/4 cup of the water kept aside earlier and bring it to a boil. 

9. Then lower the heat and continue cooking the masala until all the excess water has evaporated and the masala is cooked through. The raw taste of the coconut masala should go off.

10. Then add cooked cluster beans into the boiling masala and mix well. Check and adjust salt.

11. Simmer till all the water evaporates and the dish/sukke becomes dry. Remove it from heat.


Serving suggestions:

1. Serve mitke sanga sukke hot with lots of coconut oil on top with steaming hot rice. Mix them well and enjoy.

2. Serve this side dish with lots of coconut oil on top and with a bowl of steaming hot rice and dalithoy.

3. Serve this spicy side dish with curd rice.

4. Enjoy this side dish with lots of coconut oil on top. It tastes great on its own. Onions add a nice crunch to the soft cluster beans in a spicy masala. 


Find more Konkani cuisine side dishes here


Tags: Vegetarian, spicy, lunch, sides, Konkani recipe, Konkani dish, Konkani cuisine, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, Konkani food, side dish, sukke, mitke sang, cluster beans, vegan side dish, GSB Konkani recipe.