Savatekayi Hashi | Cucumber Raita

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಲು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ 

Cucumber is one of those vegetables which is widely used in Indian cooking. Its summer here, and we are making a good use of cucumbers. My cooking style goes more towards my native style food when its summer; we enjoy preparing and eating native style curries like Hashi, Tambli, etc which are mainly yogurt based. But when the winter starts, we prefer more of soups, chapathi and curries.

Hashi or Saasive is a yogurt and coconut based curry which is a good combination with rice. We Havyakas can prepare Hashi or Saasive using almost every variety of vegetables and edible leaves.  

Today, I am going to share the recipe of Savatekayi Hashi (Sasive) with you all. When we were school age kids, we cousins were all very keen to watch how Amma / Aunty / Grandma chop the cucumber so finely using 'Ilige mane' or coconut scraper. We all loved that aroma which comes when the cucumber is chopped finely. And, we used to wait for that small leftover pieces of cucumber which they give at the end!

Below is the recipe of Soutekayi (Savatekayi) Hashi for you all..

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Serves - 5
• Difficulty level: Medium

Ingredients:

• Finely chopped cucumber - 1 cup (see Tips)
• Fresh grated coconut (or frozen) - 1 to 1 1/4 cup
• Fresh curd - 1 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Water - about 1 cup (approx)

For Seasoning: Cooking oil - 2 1/2 tsp, Dried red chilli - 2 small pieces, Urid dal - 1 tsp, Till seeds - 1 tsp, Sesame seeds - 1 tsp, Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch, green chilly - 1

Recipe Instructions:

• Grind the grated coconut into a thick, fine paste by adding around half a cup of water. Transfer it into a bowl.
• Cut the green chillies and keep it ready for seasoning.
• Heat a thick bottom pan for seasoning. To this, add around 2.5 tea spoon of oil. Once its heated, add red chilli pieces and 1 tsp urid dal. Saute it for half a minute and add 1 tsp till seeds, 1 tsp sesame seeds followed by a pinch of hing. 
• When the sesame seeds start crackling, add the green chilly pieces and sauté it for 1 - 2 minutes and turn off the flame. To this seasoning, add the finely chopped cucumber when the pan is still hot. Mix it once, and transfer this mixture into bowl where we kept the coconut paste. 
• Crush the chilli pieces using a spoon or using your fingertips (if its not too hot). Add 1.5 cups of curd, 1/2 tsp sugar and salt to taste. 
• Mix everything well, check and adjust the taste. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a few spoons of water to adjust the consistency. 
• Enjoy this Hashi along with rice and pickle.

Tips:

• If you are using the young cucumbers no need to take off the peel while chopping.
• Fully grown cucumbers are not good for this recipe. I normally use lebanese cucumbers for this. 
• Pull chopper comes in very handy to chop the cucumber finely.
• Some varieties of cucumbers comes with a bitter taste. Hence, make sure to taste a small piece before you proceed with the preparation. 
• For that authentic taste, I prefer using coconut oil for the seasoning.