Majjige Huli

Udupi buttermilk curry — thin, sour buttermilk simmered gently with cooked ash gourd (kumbalakkai), raw banana, or cucumber, and a freshly ground paste of fresh coconut, green chilli, cumin, and turmeric until the vegetables are tender. The buttermilk must not boil at any point — the entire cooking is done below a simmer — or the curd will split and turn grainy. Tempered with mustard seeds, dried red chilli, asafoetida, and curry leaves in coconut oil. The jaggery sometimes added in coastal Karnataka versions gives the majjige huli a very slight sweetness that differentiates it from the Andhra version (majjiga pulusu). Considered the most cooling and digestively gentle curry in the Udupi repertoire; made particularly in summer and served as the final curry on the meal plate to cool the stomach after the heavier sambar and rasam courses.