A sweet, tangy, spicy, flavourful coconut based curry from the Coastal Karnataka, India – This is Menaskai for you. What makes this dish even more special is its flexibility. It can be made with vegetables as well as fruits. At times, with sweet ones, few sour apples too creep in to the basket of apples. And thus comes into picture : Apple Menaskai
‘Menaskai’, is one dish which is a must in a traditional South Canara / Tulunad Brahmin households, especially during functions. There is an interesting way the dishes are served during feasts. More often than not, food is served in banana leaf and every dish has a particular space designated for it. Something like a space allocator. Menaskai is one such dish, which has its own space in the banana leaf. More about this, do check out the Apple Menaskai Stories section below. You may also want to look into Hogplum menaskai recipe.
Other Apple based recipes that might interest you :
Total Time: 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Sour Apples: 4 (Diced)
Jaggery: 2 small lemon sized
Fresh Grated Coconut: 0.5 cup
Tamarind: 1 small lemon sized
Salt: To taste
For Menaskai Masala:
Kashmiri Red Chillies: 3
Urad Dal: 1.5 tsp.
Coriander seeds: 0.25 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds: 0.25 tsp.
Sesame seeds: 2 tsp.
Ghee/coconut oil: For frying
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Method:
- Soak tamarind in water and keep aside
- Wash and dry the apples. Along with the peal, dice the apples into cubes
- In a pot, add the diced apples, jaggery, salt and water, just enough to cover apples. Cook over medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes(Max.). I just bring the water to boil and switch off the heat. The apple, need not be cooked completely. Else it will turn mashy
- Meanwhile, in a pan, add the sesame seeds and fry until it spurts out. Keep it aside
- In the same pan, add little ghee or coconut oil. Add the red chillies and fry for a minute. Then add urad dal and fenugreek seeds and fry until golden brown. Add coriander seeds and continue frying for a few seconds. Remove the spices from heat and let them cool
- In a mixer jar, add coconut, tamarind and red chillies and grind to smooth paste. Now, add rest of the spices except sesame seeds and grind further. Finally, add the sesame seeds and grind to a smooth paste
- Transfer the ground content to the cooked/semi cooked apples. Mix well.Adjust the salt if required and bring it to boil
- Apple Menaskai is ready to relish!!!
Apple Menaskai stories:
In the olden days, I am told by my dad, that there used to be competition, in feast, as of who eats more and people used to end up eating 25 to 50 pieces of ‘Holige’ (a very special flat lentils sweet).And yes, the food was asked and served as long as one wants to eat. Well, things have changed now. Sweets, are neither asked the second time in the feasts nor are there any takers for them in the second round. Well, it holds good with all other items served in the banana leaf. Blame it on the reduced capacity or the fear of health issues or dietary non-compliances. Whatever be the reason, most of the dishes are prepared, just as a customary. Unfortunately, Menaskai too falls in the league. It is served in its place holder, sometimes, just a small drop falls on my leaf and there is no second round of servings for it too!!!
I remember, during our childhood days, mom and grandmom used to extract the mango pulp, process, sun dry and create rolls which were similar to the fruit bars available in the stores these days. The sweeter ones were given to us as fruit bars to eat and the sour ones were used in the preparation of menaskai. And I used to love the menaskai prepared out of it. Mom used to prepare it ocassionaly, but yes, without fail during Sri Krishna Janmashtami.
These days, in the traditional South canara feasts, one can find menaskai prepared out of variety of fruits and vegetables like grapes, pineapple, bittergourd. Capsicum, hogplum, to name a few. Here is one more to the list – Apple Menaskai.
Late summer, that was the time when our parents were visiting us this year, we had a bagfull of apples and unfortunately, most of them were sour and nobody at home had a liking for those. Me and my mom, thought, why not use them in cooking. An instant dish that we could think of was Menaskai. In no time it was ready too.
Yes. Apple needs very less or no cooking at all. If you are using a flame stove, keep it over the flame for about 2 to 3 minutes and it is cooked. If it is heat based stoves, just keep over the hot plates for about 3 to 4 minutes (You need not switch the stove on). The only job that is left is to fry the spices, grind with coconut and tamarind and mix. The dish is ready in a blink of an eye. And yes, it was loved by all. Had cooked this dish over a couple of occasions when friends came visiting home. They too loved it. What more, I thought of sharing this with all. May be you have some sour apples and don’t know what to do !!! Here is a solution, a yummy solution.
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