Menaskai
Pineapple Curry
SERVES 4
This is one of my favourite dishes. It is eaten like a dal in Karnataka. I was confused when I ate it for the first time at a friend’s brother’s wedding. When we had finished the communal meal and I was enjoying my first experience of a traditional south Indian wedding, everyone passing by kept asking me ‘Oota aitha?’ meaning, had I eaten. The other question was, ‘Did you like the menaskai?’ I did not know the names well at that time. Moreover, we had been served nearly 20 dishes. Later, I confessed to my friend that I did not know which dish menaskai was. He simply asked me which dish I liked the most. I told him the one with the sweet-sour pineapple; it was a most delectable dish and left an indelible imprint on my palate.
He told me, with a smile, that that was menaskai.
Menaskai is usually made on special occasions. It looks like a chutney with chunks of pineapple in it and is easy to make. You will remember the taste very well, even if you forget the name.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh pineapple, diced
¾ tsp salt or to taste
3 tsp white sesame seeds
4 dried red chillies, torn to pieces
2 tbsp fresh coconut, grated
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp tamarind pulp (p. 13)
1½ tsp jaggery, grated
Tempering
1½ tsp oil
¾ tsp mustard seeds
1 (small) sprig fresh curry leaves
1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
METHOD
In a small pan, combine pineapple with 3 cups of water and salt and boil for 3–4 minutes over medium heat. Drain and set aside. Put a griddle over medium heat and separately roast sesame seeds and red chillies. Combine sesame seeds and red chillies in a grinder with paprika and 2–3 tbsp of water and grind to make a smooth paste. In a frying pan, combine the cooked pineapple with the ground paste, ½ cup of water, tamarind pulp and jaggery and cook over low heat for 2 minutes. Taste and add salt, if required. Put oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the remaining tempering ingredients. When the spices crackle, add the tempering to the pineapple curry. Serve hot with steamed rice.
NOTE: Pineapple can be substituted with firm, ripe mangoes. Half-ripe mangoes taste best.
