Majjiga Pulusu

Buttermilk vegetable curry — thin sour buttermilk (majjiga) simmered gently with cooked vegetables (raw banana, yam, raw papaya, or ash gourd), a ground paste of fresh coconut, green chilli, cumin, and coriander, turmeric, and salt until the curry thickens slightly and the vegetables soften completely; tempered with mustard seeds, dried red chilli, cumin, and curry leaves in sesame oil. The buttermilk must not boil or it will split and curdle; the entire cooking is done below a simmer. Distinctly lighter and more cooling than a tamarind-based pulusu; the lactic sourness of the buttermilk is milder and more digestible. The go-to curry in Telangana and Andhra during summer months and after heavy festival meals; also the classic preparation for Ashtami and fasting days when a light, cooling meal is prescribed.