Eromba

Everything is boiled and then smashed by hand, not cooked down into a curry.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

500 g potatoes, peeled
150 g stink beans, or broad beans
6 cloves garlic
6 dried red chillies
1 tablespoon Ngari, as on its own page
1 teaspoon salt
40 g coriander or maroi chives, chopped

Method

EVERYTHING IS BOILED AND THEN SMASHED BY HAND, NOT COOKED DOWN INTO A CURRY. Its article gives the method in a single sentence and the verbs are the dish: the vegetables, spices and herbs are BOILED, with or without ngari, then SMASHED WITH HANDS, whisked, or blended. Smashing by hand is not a rustic flourish -- it leaves the texture uneven, with lumps of potato and whole pieces of bean among the paste, which is what the dish is. Blended smooth, as the article allows, it becomes a dip; cooked down in oil it becomes a curry. Neither is eromba.
THE NGARI IS OPTIONAL AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS SO. With or without. Without it the dish is vegetarian and tastes of chilli and garlic; with it, it is the savoury backbone.
THE CHILLIES ARE BOILED WITH EVERYTHING ELSE, NOT FRIED OR ADDED RAW. Dried red chillies softened in the same water, then smashed in. There are six of them for four people and that is where the heat comes from.
STINK BEANS ARE THE CHARACTERISTIC VEGETABLE AND THEIR SMELL IS THE POINT. Its article names them. If they are not to be had, broad beans give the texture and none of the smell, and the page says which you are getting.
THE GARLIC GOES IN WHOLE AND BOILED. Cloves, not crushed. Boiled garlic is sweet and mild and smashes to nothing, which is quite different from raw or fried.
IT IS DRAINED WELL BEFORE SMASHING. The water is thrown away. A wet eromba slumps and will not hold on the plate.
IT IS SMASHED WARM AND SERVED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. Warm potato breaks up willingly; cold it goes gluey.
THE HERBS GO IN AFTER THE SMASHING. Chopped coriander or chives folded through at the end so they stay fresh against everything else, which has been boiled.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes