Recipe for a Cloudy Pink Bene Israeli Sown Kadhi

Dwithiya Raghavan cooks from the evocative novel about the Bene Israeli community, Book of Rachel by Esther David.

Sown kadhi is ‘cloudy pink, like the sea changing colour under the morning sky.’ A curry best enjoyed poured over a mound of hot rice. The combination of sour kokum and rich coconut milk strikes perfect balance. As Esther writes, ‘If sown kadhi is the queen of curries, then coconut is the king of Jewish cuisine. According to Jewish dietary law, lamb should not be cooked in its mothers’ milk. So, instead of dairy products, coconut milk works as a perfect substitute for milk in Bene Israel cuisine.’

Read more about the Bene Israelis here.

Recipe for Sown Kadhi

Ingredients

300 ml diluted coconut milk 
200 ml water
4 wet leaves or 8 dry  leaves kokum
1 tbsp uncooked rice
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Method

Soak the rice in half a cup of water for an hour and grind to a smooth paste.
Soak the kokum in a bowl of water for a few minutes till the residue settles in the bowl. Remove the kokum from the water, wash and set aside. 
Pour the coconut milk and water in a deep bottomed pan and heat on a low flame. Add salt, chilli, turmeric and cumin powder to the coconut milk. Bring to a boil stirring continuously. 
Add the kokum and rice paste to the coconut milk and boil for five more minutes, continuing to stir. 

Photograph by Dwithiya Raghavan

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