Kulhi Baipen or Bonga Bonga

It seems that this is the breadfruit season as we are getting lot of breadfruits from our relatives. Yesterday my mum cooked a big pot of Bambukeyo bondibai, which is my favorite dessert and today I cooked Kulhi Baipen for lunch. I never cooked this before but have tasted it several times, if my memories are not so dim the last time I ate Kulhi Baipen was about six to seven years back. I remember the taste because I loved it so much.

Last night I asked my mum if she can tell me how to cook Kulhi Baipen but she said She wasn't so sure about all the ingredients used to cook it. I sat with a pen and paper started listing the ingredients per the long back taste of kulhi baipen. Today after I cooked, I invited my sisters & mum to taste it, I knew they would love it because the taste was just like the original recipe my grandmother used to cook. So here I share my version of Kulhi Baipen, which is so yummy, spicy and majaa (fun).

Ingredients:

3ltr’s water

1 cup rice (washed)

310 grams breadfruit (cut into bite size pieces )

1 big onion (Sliced)

2 garlic chopped

1 spring curry leaves

10 pcs pandan leaf

1/2 chilly ( githeyomirus, depends to your taste)

1 tsp ajinomoto

3 tbs good quality rihaakuru (fish paste)

½ of a medium smoked tuna  ( sliced in to bite size pieces, Valho mas falhieh)

3 tbs tomato paste

4 tbs Vegetable oil

Salt

For curry paste:

90 grms coconut

60 grm onion

9 grms garlic

6 grms dried chilly ( hiki mirus)

¾ tbs whole pepper

¾ tsp cumin seed

4 grms ginger

1 tbs lonumirus curry powder

¾ cup water

Method:

1 - Grind all curry paste ingredients in a food processor or a food grinder into a very fine paste. Leave aside.

2 - In a large sauce pan add 21/2 liters of water and rice, cook for 20 minutes on medium heat, now add bread fruit and cook until bread fruit & rice becomes very soft, so soft that it can be easily mashed using back of a wooden spoon. Mash soften breadfruits as much you can pressing bread fruits in the sides of pan using wooden spoon.

3 - In another sauce pan heat oil and add onion, garlic, curry leaves, pandan leaves and chilly fry until light brown.

4 - Put fried onion mixture into the breadfruit mixture. Add curry paste, smoked tuna, rihaakuru, tomato paste, salt and ajinomoto. Cook until the mixture turns into thick gravy, at this stage if the gravy is too thick add extra water and adjust salt per your taste. Serve hot ………….. enjoy! 

Note: 1-  Breadfruit used to cook this Baipen should not be ripe at all. Press fingers on the                         breadfruit if you cant press easily than it's not ripe.

          2-  In kulhi baipen the rice don't have to be mushy, just soft will be fine.