Mensakai

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Mensakai was something that I ate whenever I was in India back in my grandma's house especially when we had food at the temple. I had no clue what it was called back then. It was just something that was sweet, sour, tangy, and spicy all at the same time!! I used to call it mensinkai which I later got to know was green chillies in Kannada and obviously not connected to my Konkani mensakai. Having lost my grandmother years ago and not visited India or having a temple meal in forever, I had literally forgotten about this gem until a few weeks ago when my mom's friend brought in some for us (Thanks Jayshree) and you know how the universe conspires to bring you closer to what you wish for right? As I slurped away the last bit of that relishing mensakai, the heart yearned for more and lo! One of my favourite food writers on FB happened to have the recipe on her page! I tweaked her recipe a bit because I didn't have a lot of mangoes at home and what happened after that was pure magic!! The picture belies the taste and perhaps I should put 'develop photography skills' on my to-do list this lockdown but that is for another day :)

All you need is:
Raw Mango - 1 cut into about 1/2 inch squares
Pineapple-I used slices of a can about 5, similar in size as the mangoes
Jaggery - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Black gram dal -1tbsp
Fenugreek seeds -1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1tbsp
Sesame seed - 1tsp
Grated coconut  -2 tbsp
Red whole chillies -  about 10 unless they're really spicy. I used the bedgi variety
Seasoning:
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves

First I roasted the coriander, fenugreek, black gram, and red chillies with a dash of oil in a kadai
Next, I added sesame seed in and let it sit for a while.
Next, I turned off the flame, added in the grated coconut and ground this entire mix in a blender when cooled.
In the meantime, took the same kadai, heated up about a spoon of coconut oil, added the seasonings. As the mustard seeds spluttered, I added the mango bits along with jaggery and water. Once the mango softened a bit, added in the pineapple. Once it got all mushy, added in salt and the ground 'masala'.
Cooked on high flame for about 5 mins and reduced the flame to medium to cook till the mix became semi-solid and mushy.
And that was it! I believe you can store this as we do with pickles, but it was over in a jiffy so I wouldn't really know!! 
Anyhoo, it was nice to do some traditional cooking for a change!

Vive Valeque ❤️ 

Comments

  1. VidyaNovember 22, 2021 at 8:05 PM

    Wow such a nice way to share the dish story and the recipe . Will definitely try making it.

    ReplyDelete

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