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Gorikai Menaskai | Cluster Beans in Sesame Coconut Curry

Cuisine Karnataka
Dish Type Gravy Side Dishes
Author Srivalli

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Cluster Beans / Gorikai / Goruchikkudukaya (diced into 1 inch)

For the Ground Masala

  • 2 cups Coconut Fresh
  • 6 - 8 nos Dry Red Chilies
  • 2 tsp Black Sesame Seeds
  • 1 tsp Cooking Oil
  • 2 - 3 tbsp Jaggery Powder
  • Tamarind 1 small marble size (soaked and pulp extracted)
  • Salt to taste

For the Tempering

  • 2 tsp Coconut Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 6 - 7 cloves Garlic
  • 1 - 2 Dry Red Chilies

Instructions

How to make Gorikai Menaskai

  • Cut the cluster beans into 1 cm pieces and boil it with a cup of water and salt to taste. Let the cluster beans get just cooked and not overdone.

To make the paste

  • Heat a pan with a tsp of cooking oil, add red chilies, fry for couple of minutes. Then, add sesame seeds and fry for a couple of seconds.
  • Next, add the coconut and roast it all together till the coconut turns light golden. Let the mixture cool down.
  • Grind this spice mixture with tamarind, jaggery and about 1/2 cup of water. Grind everything into a very smooth paste adding more water if required.

To make the gravy

  • Add the coconut paste to the cooked cluster beans. Season it with salt and bring it to a boil. Add more water depending on the desired thickness of the curry. It should be as thick as the dosa batter. Taste it and adjust the flavours according to your preference. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat.

For the tempering

  • Heat coconut oil and mustard seeds in a little pan. When the mustard starts to splutter, add the lightly crushed garlic cloves. Fry till the garlic turns golden and add the dry red chili. When the chili turns bring red, turn off the heat. Pour the tempering over the curry.
  • Serve with Rice.

Notes

Other vegetables which can be used instead of cluster beans are bitter gourd, pineapple, mango, cluster beans and hog plums. Balance the sweet and sour ingredients depending on the flavor of the vegetable used.
You can use both desiccated and frozen coconut instead of fresh coconut.
I read that Menaskai usually tastes better the next day. So if you are serving it for dinner, try to cook it in the morning and let it sit the whole day. After boiling it a few times, it gets really thick like a chutney and the flavour gets much stronger.
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