Roasted Cucumber Curry | Roasted Cucumber Sambar | Southekai Sambar | Mangalore cucumber Curry | Southe Huli

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Mangalore cucumber or Mangalore Southe or yellow cucumber is a variety of cucumber used as main ingredient in curries.  Our recipe here is a daal, coconut and masala based curry. This vegetable curry is a staple in the monsoons in Udupi-Mangalore regions. We, in coastal region call the vegetable as Southekai (Tauthe in Tulu) and the curry for us is Southe Koddel or Southe Huli.

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Huli or Sambar preparation is different from one region to another. Every region plays important role in adding taste and elements to its food. For example, in coastal region fresh grated coconut and coconut oil is must in almost every preparation, and it gives a different taste to the food. Edible sesame oil is used in few parts of South India. Whereas a much popular oil in eastern and north eastern parts of India is mustard oil. So, every region plays a significant role in contributing to its food culture. Let alone region, every family has its own way of cooking a particular food item. It could have been passed on from older generation or a simply discovered by a mix of different cultures. All this pretext is to justify my Huli or sambar recipe here 🙂

RCucumber2When you read on it may sound very different. This is one of my favourite cucumber preparation in  curries. The curry will be mildly sweet and tangy and  mildly spiced. The cucumber will be soft and juicy and cooked only by roasting it. Yes, shallow frying the cucumber till its cooked and slightly charred. You can follow this recipe even for normally cooked cucumber or ash gourd or sweet pumpkin. The coconut-spice gravy goes well with these vegetables. The taste is same as they would serve in a traditional Udupi fare.

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The steps are simple, a little extra time for roast-cooking the vegetable, but worth all your effort and time. It is served best with hot steaming rice and a spoonful of ghee. Do give it a try.

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Roasted Cucumber Curry | Roasted Cucumber Sambar | Southekai Sambar | Mangalore cucumber Curry | Southe Huli
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
1 hr
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. Mangalooru southe/Mangalore cucumber - 1 small to medium size
  2. Toor dal - 1/4 cup
  3. Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
  4. Byadagi chilli - 4-5 (or any variant of dry red chilli- use as per required spice level)
  5. Tamarind - small lemon sized
  6. Jaggery - 1-2 tbsp
  7. Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
  8. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
  9. Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
  10. Black gram lentils/urad dal - 2 tsp
  11. Curry leaves 2 strand
  12. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
  13. Salt to taste
  14. Coconut oil, check Note 1
Preparation
  1. Wash and pressure cook toor dal until soft and mushy.
  2. Wash and cut the cucumber. Deseed them and cut into wedges of about 2" size. Check note 2.
  3. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes. Extract its juice from the pulp.
  4. Roast chilli, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, black gram lentil, curry leaves with 1 tsp oil until fragrant. Grind it with fresh coconut adding water as required. Make a smooth paste.
Method-1
  1. In a pan, heat coconut oil for shallow frying cucumber.
  2. Add in cucumber wedges, sprinkle some salt and roast. Check note 3.
  3. In a vessel, add 1/2 cup of water, curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind paste, jaggery and bring to a rolling boil.
  4. Add cooked daal and 1/2 cup of water and mix well.
  5. Just when the dal starts to boil, add masala paste. adjust water and salt. Check note 4
  6. Let this mixture simmer on medium flame for about 2-4 minutes.
  7. Add cooked cucumber along with the oil in which it is fried, give a stir.
  8. Bring to boil and koddel is ready to be served.
Method-2
  1. In a vessel, add 1/2 cup of water, curry leaves, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind paste, jaggery and bring to a rolling boil.
  2. Add cucumber pieces and cook until soft. Keep stirring and add water little by little as required. Do not let the water evaporate.
  3. Mix in cooked daal and 1/2 cup of water.
  4. Add masala paste and adjust water and salt.
  5. Let this mixture simmer on medium flame for about 2-4 minutes.
Notes
  1. 1. Coconut oil is preferred for the authentic taste. You can also use cooking oil of your choice.
  2. 2. Cucumber skin can be peeled if you are following method-2. Pieces can be cut into smaller sizes if preferred.
  3. 3. Use around 2 tbsp oil or little more for frying the cucumber pieces. Cucumber should be well cooked. Close the lid of the pan and cook the cucumber on medium flame first. Next fry the till they get colour on high flame.
  4. 4. This curry is meant to be little thick in consistency, Add water carefully. Also, bear in mind that salt is added while cooking cucumber pieces, So add carefully.
  5. 5. The cucumber sometimes tends to have a slight bitter taste. Such vegetable is not fit to be cooked. Choose a ripe and yellow cucumber.
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