Whole green chilies are one of the constituents of many North Karnataka meals. It is usually served with Jolad rotti or sajjige rotti. Many times it is replaced with mirchi bajji - green chilies dipped in gram flour mixture and deep fried. In the Karavali (coastal) belt of Karnataka, usually this taaka mirsang(Konkani) or majjige menasu (Kannada) – green chilies soaked in buttermilk(taak /majjige), sun dried and then deep fried, are very popular. Most of the Konkani functions include this along with other deep fried sun dried items like papads, fritters(vadis) etc. These chilies are very popular in other parts of South India too.
I usually make a huge batch of these chilies every year. I use a local variety called as Gokarn chillies which are light green, plump. The light green ones are mild and dark green ones are more spicy. I usually select the ones with medium heat. They are usually available after rainy season – from December onwards.
Traditionally these are deep fried in hot oil. Many people avoid eating these chilies due to this. My grandmother used to shallow fry them in a little ghee on a low flame. This requires only a little oil/ghee. Ghee gives a very nice aroma, this is feasible only when a small quantity of chillies are needed.
At my home, everyone likes to eat it with plain curd and rice. It gives nice spice and taste to bland curd rice.
We have two methods of making taaka mirsang. In both, some additional flavoring is used which gives a very nice aroma to the chillies. Infact there is a third method in which these additional flavorings are not added. In method-1, some spices are added to the buttermilk and then the chillies are soaked in them. In method-2, chillies are soaked in plain buttermilk(with salt) dried and then the ground spices are applied to them. Both have their own taste. I usually follow method-1 as the chillies prepared with method-2 do not remain tasty for a long time.
Ingredients:
1 kg green chilies
1 liter buttermilk
6-7 tea spns salt (depends on the kind of salt used, so be careful while adding it)
Preparing chillies:
Wash the chillies. Trim the stem(thottu) into half. Put a deep cut into chillies taking care not to slit them completely.
Method-1:
Make a powder from 2 tea spns cumin seeds, 1/2 tea spn fenugreek seeds, 1/4 tea spn asafoetida. Add this powder and salt to the buttermilk. Immerse the chillies in this buttermilk overnight and next day, take out the chillies and dry them under hot sun.Do not discard the buttermilk.
In the evening, put them back in the same buttermilk. Next day, dry them again. Repeat this procedure for about 4-5 days. By this time, all the buttermilk is soaked by the chillies and the spices give a very nice aroma to it. Once all buttermilk has been done, dry the chillies for 3-4 days more till they are completely dried and become crispy. Store in airtight container after they have cooled to room temperature.
Method-2:
Immerse the chilies in buttermilk with salt. (No spices added at this stage). Continue soaking and sun drying them as above till all the buttermilk is done.
Soak 6 tea spns of urad dal and 1 tea spn fenugreek seeds in water for an hour. Grind them to a smooth paste. Smear this paste on the chillies and sun dry for 3-4 days more.
Serving:
While serving, deep fry them in hot oil or shallow fry in ghee/oil and serve. These fried chillies remain good for 5-6 days in air tight containers.
Pictorial:
Chillies slitted ready to soak in buttermilk
Chillies after drying for 3 days and soaked in buttermilk, ready to be dried again
After all the buttermilk has been soaked, ready for 3 days of continuous drying
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24 Responses to Buttermilk chilli (Taaka mirsang or Majjige menasu)
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Nice post Aunty explaining the method step by step..My Aayi too makes this every year. Its a must in our home. My MIL makes a Taka-Mirsangi Curd rice by squishing the fried chillies in the curd and using it for mixing with rice. I love tht a lot.
Wow!
Nice recipe and pics…..
We have a similar preparation in Kerala too… I love these chilies… Great recipe aunty, I can only drool at it, since we never get enough sun here to dry the chilies.
I made similar chiles last year using an Andhra recipe…I love these so much! Tart, hot, salty. And now I’d like to try making them again this summer by following your recipe- method 1. The spice combo sounds SO deicious. Thank you for sharing this.
Hey this is one of my mother’s delicay. i get from her only.. love this along wth white curry and curd rice..
I love those balaka menasinkai, great eith Mosaranna too. I tried making at home at home once, didn’t work!:D
Looks delicious, enjoy!:)
In Maharashtra we call it ‘Sandgi Mirchi’. we eat this with rice+ghee, with Dahi-Bhat, with ‘Phodni-Bhat. we prepare ‘Dadpe Pohe’ with ‘Sandgi Mirchi’.
1 Patal pohe
2 onion
3 coconut
4 kothimbir
5 salt
6 sugar
And ‘Sandgi Mirchi’
we love this snacks.
Namaste Aunty, it is so nice to see you post these traditional dishes. Ur recipes have been featured by Shilpa for a long time now, but I would like to welcome you to the blog-world!
Those pics are so tempting, lovely post!
Regards,
Richa
These chillies are delicious with curd rice, Aunty! Thanks for the detailed instructions!
Dear Ayi,
This is utterly unique to me. I have never heard of yoghurt soaked dried chilies. Oh, how I would love to try some. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hello aunty. All your recipes have such detailed instructions that I love to read them. These look so hot
wow very nice pictures..
wow shilpa….I love them…..and such a good post!
majjige balaka as we call it in m’lore. we usally make this using 2nd method.
Shilpa, this looks amazing.. What a lovely way to add the zing to buttermilk!!
Wow! That’s a *lot* of work, I usually just go out and buy them
I’m truly impressed!
Since my friend from Sri Lanka, Kumi, introduced me to curd chilies, I just cannot get enough. Sometimes, I would snack on it just like that without even frying it!
The other day when I was in the US, I found a differnt kind in a store, these are stuffed with turmeric and gram powder I think. I haven’t tried them yet
I discovered these lovely chillies in New Delhi once some years ago through my sister and I just love them. I thought they were made with joghurt. Thank you so much for such detailed description. I must try it out myself.
Wow – I would love to try these. I have never heard of anything like this before.
Unfortunately I am unlikely to get the requisite sun here in the UK – do you think I could slowly dry these in the oven at a very low heat every day?
How long would they last for??
Thank you!
Shilpa: I think you can make it in oven on a low heat every day. But I don’t think it will last as long as the sun dried ones. As I haven’t tried this method, I don’t know much
.
I know this adds a lot of flavour and spice to any bland
meal. I have a good news to make them ready in a ziffy i.e. spray them with oil spray and microwave them for few seconds and hot crunchy chillies are ready. Try and
enjoy them.
I know this but not yet tried,again the same reason we cannot get direct sunlight as whe have put shade on the terrace.What should I do in this case ?I really would like to try this receipe as my Husband and Daughter love them very much.
Try drying them in oven. Preheat it to a very low temperature, switch off and keep the chillies inside oven, repeat as many times as required till they are dried
We eat this with Dahi bhaat.. my aaji’s favourite..
Thanks for the method of making these chillies as in maharashtra konkan side we used to call it them sandgi mirchi.