Menaskai recipe | How to make Udupi style menaskai | Capsicum sweet and sour gravy
By Latha on August 18th, 2017
Menaskai recipe explained with step by step pictures and a video. This menaskai is prepared using capsicum, hog plum, red chili, sesame seeds, coconut and few other spices. Capsicum menaskai or donnemenasu menaskai is a very tasty gravy. This is an Udupi style sweet and sour gravy and goes well with rice or chapathi.
Menaskai is a very popular sweet, spicy and sour gravy prepared across Udupi-Mangalore or Karavali region of Karnataka. I am very happy to post this recipe as many readers have requested for this. I have used capsicum in this recipe. Also I have used hog plum (ambate or amtekai) for the sourness, which you can replace it with tamarind. Menaskai is prepared using various vegetables like bitter gourd, pineapple, raw mango etc.,
If you are looking for more gravy recipes then do check my Harive soppu huli or dantina soppu saaru, Beetroot onion sambar recipe, upsaaru, dill leaves rasam, massoppu, yellow cucumber sambar, tomato rasam, Snakegourd kootu, bittergourd sweet curry, shunti thambuli and okra sambar recipes.
Or simply visit our gravies section to read many sambar, rasam, thambli, kootu and other gravy recipes.
I have prepared a video on this menaskai recipe with Kannada narration, which I have embedded it below. Please have a look.
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min
Serves: 3
Ingredients: (measuring cup used = 240ml)
- 2 medium sized capsicum
- 4 hog plum (ambate or amtekai) or small lemon sized tamarind
- A pinch of turmeric powder
- 1 big lemon sized jaggery
- 2 tsp of cooking oil
- Salt as per your taste
Ingredients required for grinding (type 1):
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 3 - 6 red chilies
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek or methi seeds
- 3 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1 tsp cooking oil
Ingredients required for grinding (type 2):
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 3 - 6 red chilies
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek or methi seeds (optional)
- 3 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 cup grated coconut
- 1 tsp cooking oil
Ingredients required for tempering:
- 1 red chili
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp urad dal
- 1/2 tsp chana dal or gram dal (optional)
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 4 tsp cooking oil
Instructions for making menaskai:
- Wash and finely chop the capsicum. Also chop the hog plum. If not using hog plum, soak lemon sized tamarind in 1/2 cup of water.
- Take a frying pan and dry roast the ellu or sesame seeds. Roast until they start popping but do not burn them.
- Next add in 1/2 tsp of oil and roast either (coriander seeds + red chili + methi seeds) or (urad dal + red chili + methi seeds). You can refer either type 1 or type 2. Both the types tastes good. Once done take it out and keep it aside.
- Next in the same pan add in 2 tsp of oil, chopped capsicum and hog plum (optional). Give a quick stir.
- Add in turmeric powder, 1/2 cup of water and salt. If using tamarind istead of hog plum, add in tamarind juice now and no need to add extra water.
- Next add in jaggery. Close the lid and cook the capsicum under low flame.
- Meanwhile take fried ingredients and grated coconut in a mixie jar. Use required water and grind until smooth.
- Once the capsicum is cooked and soft, add this ground masala.
- Add in required water. Menaskai shall have thick gravy. Adjust salt, sweet and sour level. Bring it to boil and switch off the stove.
- Temper it with oil, red chili, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Serve it with rice or chapathi.
Dear reader, We have a Kannada version of this recipe. Click here to read this recipe in Kannada.
Dear Reader,
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