Go Back Email Link
hogplum curry

AMTEKAI GOJJU ( MENASKAI ) / HOG PLUM CURRY

Smitha Kalluraya
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Side Dish
Cuisine karnataka
Servings 4 serving

Ingredients
 

  • 4 - 5 nos Hog Plums / Amtekayi, Big size
  • small orange size Jaggery, ( Can + or - this quantity )
  • Salt, - As per taste
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric Haldi

For Grinding (Masala)

  • 1 cup grated coconut
  • 2 tsp Black Gram Urad Dal
  • 1 tsp Bengal Gram Chana Dal
  • 1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds methi
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds Jeera
  • 1.5 - 2 tsps Sesame seeds/ Til ( Black / white
  • 1-2 pinch Hing /Asafoetida
  • 4 - 8 Red Chillies, ( As per your spice level )
  • a few Curry Leaves

For Tempering :

  • 2 - 3 tbsps Coconut Oil /Ghee/oil, ( Coconut oil preferred )
  • 1 tsp Mustard
  • a few Curry Leaves
  • a pinch Hing /Asafoetida

Instructions
 

  • Wash and lightly scrape the skin of the hog plums.Cut amtekai to pieces. Don't discard the seed.
    make amtekayi gojju
  • Place hog plum along with seed in a pan with a cup of water and jaggery .Cook till soft. The pit will be hard & is not edible but after cooking , it takes in all the flavors and spices. It 's a wonderful treat to suck its juice . If you are using tender small variety , seeds are edible.
  • Meanwhile in a small pan add few drops of oil.Add all the ingredients mentioned under masala except coconut and sesame.Roast them in medium low flame till red chillies becomes crisp and dal turns golden color.Add coconut to that and just saute it , may be for 1 min.Transfer all the ingredients to a mixer jar.
  • Next,dry roast sesame seeds in the same pan till it turns golden. Add it to the mixer jar containing other roasted masala ingredients. Once its little cooled , add little water and make a very smooth paste.
  • Add this ground paste & salt to cooked hog plum and mix well.Cook this in a medium flame till the gravy starts boiling.
  • Reduce the flame to sim, add a tbsb of raw coconut oil and allow it to boil for another 8-10 mins. Stir in between.Let the gravy thicken. *REFER NOTES
  • Season with mustard,hing and curry leaves.Switch off .
  • Serve Hog plum gojju  hot / warm with plain Rice / roti / dosa / Idli .

Notes

  1. The tip of adding raw coconut oil while boiling , i got it from a cook who is a regular in my home for all functions. He was right ,It takes it to a new level.Actually ,he adds more than a tbsp but atleast to go near to that taste i add just a tbsp. If you want you can increase the qty or omit it completely.
  2. Another tip , the cook gave me was to boil this gravy well in a low flame. The more you boil the more tasty it becomes .The consistency also thickens. Boiling it well also increases its shelf life. It does not spoil for a week if refrigerated and stays good without fridge for 2 days.this also enhances the taste.
  3. You have to roast sesame seeds very well. if its raw this dish will turn flop.
  4. Basically this dish (menaskai) will be tangy ,sweet n spicy. So to get the authentic taste add more jaggery ,tamarind n chilli. But you can vary it depending on your pref.
  5. You can substitute hog plum with raw mango / pineapple /bitter gourd/ dry raisins/ ladies finger/ Capsicum / orange peels.