SOUTHEKAYI SASMI (MANGALORE CUCUMBER CURRY)

 SOUTHEKAYI SASMI (MANGALORE CUCUMBER CURRY)

One of the famous places in my Home State of  Karnataka is the city of Udupi, which is famous for both the Sri Krishna Temple and its vegetarian cuisine. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes from the Udupi/Mangalore area -such as:- 

• Haagalakai Gojju
• Akki Halbai
• Pineapple Menaskai

Today's recipe is made with Mangalore Cucumber- which is also known as Field Marrow, Malabar Cucumber and Madras Cucumber. We call this Magge in my mother tongue, Konkani. It is called Mangaluru Southekayi in Kannada ( while the ordinary cucumber is called Southekayi.) 

Southekayi Sasmi is a coconut based side dish with a distinctive flavour of ground mustard. It is usually  served with hot steamed rice.  I have adapted this recipe from Southekayi Sasmi by Udupi Recipes.

We had this for lunch recently and loved it! 

Ingredients:-

• Medium -sized Mangalore Cucumber,  1/2
• Turmeric Powder , 1/4 tsp
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 3/4 cup
• Mustard Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Roasted Dry Red Chillies, 3
• Tamarind, small piece
• Salt, to taste

For Seasoning:-

• Mustard Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves, a sprig
• Dry Red Chillies, broken into halves, 2
• Oil, 2 tsp

Method:

Wash the Mangalore Cucumber and cut it into half. Peel the cucumber and remove the core and seeds. 

Chop into small pieces and keep it in a vessel 

Cook the Mangalore Cucumber in 1 cup of water, adding a little turmeric powder, till it turns soft but not mushy

Grind together the fresh coconut gratings, roasted red chillies, tamarind  and mustard seeds, adding 1/2 cup of water to a smooth paste.

Add this freshly ground paste to the cooked Mangalore Cucumber, add salt to taste and mix well and bring to a boil. Switch off the gas . 

Heat oil in a small pan and on medium heat add the mustard seeds, when they splutter add the curry leaves and broken red chillies and sauté

Pour this seasoning to the Southekayi Sasmi and transfer it to a serving bowl

Serve the Southekayi Sasmi with hot steamed rice