Description
Nargese mandaki is a traditional savory that belongs to festival trays and big family mornings. It is built on rice and lentils, tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves and warm spices, and finished the way our mums finish things at home, by taste and by hand rather than by a written recipe.
The texture is the pleasure of it, the soft bite of the lentils against the fragrant tempering, with curry leaves and a gentle heat running through. It is the kind of thing an ajji makes in a large batch when there is a pooja or a houseful of guests, and it keeps well, so it earns its place in the savory side of a festival spread alongside the sweets.
We make it in small batches at our Malleshwaram kitchen and pack it fresh. Serve it as a teatime thindi, set it out for guests, or add it to a festive hamper. It travels well, so we can ship it across India. Keep it in an airtight jar once it arrives and it stays crisp for weeks, ready whenever someone wants a small, savoury, home-style bite.
