Tangy Coconut Yogurt Curry with Vegetables (Majjige Huli)

So few days ago while cooking this refreshing dish, I was watching my toddler play with some of his toys few feet away from where I was standing. Sometime later he started chewing on one of his toy and I like any other dutiful mother asked him to stop. The naughty toddler that he is continued to chew on it ignoring my willful pleas, so I scornfully said “S, you are a Bad Boy, stop chewing it”.

Now I was expecting that he would listen to me and stop chewing, but instead he said “Amma Bad Boy”. That totally caught me off-guard as I was hearing it for the first time and I ended up laughing loudly and giving the toddler a big hug.

It’s one of those wired things that kids say but to me it seemed very funny more so because it was coming from somebody not more than 3 feet tall, bundle of innocence who until “yesterday” could not even sit, let alone talk. I had heard him say words, but not sentences and this seemed like a sentence to me albeit an unconventional one.

Majjige Huli is one of the traditional dishes of Karnataka. It is a simple, delicious, low fat, commonly mixed with rice. Huli means Sour and Majjige means Buttermilk. This has a combination of coconut, yogurt/curds and cooked along with vegetables. I make this once in a while when we get bored with the usual Daal, Rasam, Sambhar and when we crave for something totally different. It is very refreshing, light and easy on the palate.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

• 3-5 green chillies

• 2 tsp jeera (cumin)

• 1 cup of mixed vegetables (pumpkin/ash gourd/beans/potato or combination)

• 1 Tbsp chana daal

• 1 cup yogurt/ curd

• 1 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing

• Salt, oil

• Turmeric a pinch

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds

• 3-4 Curry leaves

• Asafetida a pinch

Method:

• Soak the chana daal in water for about 1 hour.

• Cook the vegetables in enough water either on stovetop or in the microwave. Add salt while cooking.

• Meanwhile make a fine paste of coconut, green chillies, jeera, soaked chana daal.

• After the vegetables are cooked, add the ground paste, mix well and let it boil.

• When almost done, add the yogurt and mix well. Do not boil with yogurt for a long time as it begins to curdle.

• Meanwhile make a tadka of mustard, curry leaves and hing. Add to this boiled paste.

• Add the coriander leaves for garnishing.

This goes well with Rotis or with warm rice.