#1000Kitchens Recipe Drop: Ananasachi Amti
Paisley Experience’s Dhanashree Goregaonkar or Dhani, ananasachi amti, is more than just a pineapple curry. It’s a sacred bridge that connects her to an ancestor she never met and her Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare (SKP) roots.
The ananasachi amti has been a celebratory dish, reserved for special occasions among the Goregaonkar family, and in the SKP community. Despite the community’s deep love for seafood, explains Dhani, traditional SKP wedding feasts excluded meat. “The next most sought-after dish was the pineapple curry. Back then, pineapple was a delicacy — seasonal, rare and considered exotic — making the amti even more special.”
Dhani got acquainted with this recipe while on a quest to dig deeper into her community’s dishes to showcase at Paisley Experience. She found it in her great-grandmother or Panji Ajji, Sarojini Goregaonkar’s recipes, now digitised in Dhani’s inbox.
For Dhani, these recipes not only preserve a way of life but also offer a rare glimpse into her great-grandmother’s style of cooking, effort and taste. “Panji Ajji used only whole spices or freshly powdered ones. No premixed garam masala. So, all her recipes begin by first roasting the jeera and then powdering it. That’s what I’ve done too,” she says.
This is a #1000Kitchens feature. You can read the full story here.
PANJI AJJI’S RECIPE FOR ANANASACHI AMTI
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
Milk of 2 coconuts
12-14 split cashew nuts
1 tbsp rice flour
¼ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
Salt and jaggery to taste
Tadka / Phodni (tempering):
2 pieces of cinnamon
3-4 cloves
4-5 whole black pepper
¼ tsp mustard seeds
3 green chillies chopped in three pieces each
5-6 curry leaves
1/4 inch ginger, finely chopped
A pinch of asafoetida
Method
In a pot, add ghee and oil. Heat gently till it spits. Add the whole spices and all the tempering ingredients.
When ready, add pineapple, turmeric, red chilli powder and cumin powder. Stir well, cover for 5 minutes and simmer.
Add the coconut milk (reserve about 3 tbsp of coconut milk for later) and salt. Gently simmer till it boils.
Mix rice flour with the remaining coconut milk. Add it gently to thicken the amti.
Add cashew nuts. Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Remove from the heat and leave it covered for 15-20 minutes.
Garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve with warm chapati or freshly cooked rice.
Words by Krutika Behrawala. Images by Saurabh Nandkishor. Illustration by Ernestine Klecz.
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