Maavinkaayi Touvve...a Lentil Preparation From Karnataka

Hi all!!

This is a very tasty and traditional preparation from Karnataka, which is very commonly seen in summers on any festive occasion, when the complete spread of food is served on a banana leaf. During my recent visit to S’s hometown, where I attended my nephew’s thread ceremony, in one of the elaborate meals, this version of touvve was also served.

Touvve is nothing but a thick daal which is tempered with mustard seeds and Bengal gram. The addition of the word Maavinkaayi to the Touvve simply indicates the addition of raw mango to the cooked lentils. The raw mango adds a nice tang to the preparation.

S, loves the touvve and so do I. A regular daal when is served thick tastes much better and the best example to that is the touvve.

The city where I live in, getting raw mango with a good sourness is a tedious task. What’s usually seen is the ‘Totapari’ Mango. On one such rare occasion, I got hold of really sour raw mango and I decided to make Panha, green chutney and the touvve. My kids love the sour taste and they had a great feast eating these simple delicacies using the raw mango…

While making the touvve the lentils after cooking are not completely mashed and the grainy texture is retained, however, I had completely mashed my lentils, but I can assure you, there was no compromise on the taste!!! S, loved the preparation to the core and finished a bowl of it without any rice or chapati.