C41 Malvani Paste

This paste is used in Konkani cooking from the Malvani area of Maharashtra.

Ingredients

Makes about 6 tbspn	Continued...
2 tbspn oil	1 tspn ground coriander
1 tspn chilli powder	100 gm onions (prepared weight)
2 tspn garam masala	2 tspn coconut flour/powder (see note 1)

Preparation

Finely chop the onion.

Cooking

Add the oil to a suitable pan and heat over a low flame.
Add the chilli powder, garam masala and ground coriander and cook, stirring, for 1 min.
Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until onions are translucent and softened - about 2 or 3 min.
Using another pan over a low heat, dry roast the coconut flour/powder, stirring constantly until the coconut flour/powder reaches a light-brown colour.
Stir the roasted coconut into the spicy onions.
Allow to cool a little and transfer to a sensibly sized beaker that will allow a stick blender to move freely.
Blend to a smooth paste adding 2 tbspn of water to aid blending.
Unless using immediately transfer to a small container and refrigerate.

Notes

(1) Traditionally freshly shredded coconut is used but I use coconut flour/powder in order to make a smoother paste. Coconut flour/powder can be purchased at Asian outlets.

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