Majjiga Charu (Majjiga Pulusu)
Updated: June 15, 2024, By Swasthi
Majjiga Charu is an Andhra style side dish of seasoned yogurt with tempering spices. Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves transform your plain old bland yogurt to a delicious spiced aromatic Majjiga charu. It is tangy and spicy with a burst of flavors that any yogurt lover will enjoy this. Traditionally it is eaten with plain steamed cooled rice but you can also eat it on its own or with chapati. Make this for a fast and effortless side on a weeknight.
The word Majjiga translates to buttermilk in Telugu and Charu is a traditional rasam/soup. So you may call it buttermilk rasam. However this dish neither is as runny as rasam nor it is cooked with so many spices. Actually we don’t cook curd at all, we just season it and it is slightly thick yet of pouring consistency.
About Majjiga Charu
In Indian cuisine there are numerous seasoned yogurt dishes. North Indian Kadhi, Tamil Nadu mor kulambu, Kerala coconut moru curry and Karnataka majjige saaru are some similar dishes like this Majjiga charu. Each version tastes different as they are made differently. Some versions also use lentils/dal and others use coconut or even both but this Andhra style dish is the simplest made with minimum ingredients.
Traditionally these dishes were a way to use up the excess curd that would otherwise go sour during the summer. My recipe is a traditional version which my Mom and grandmother made whenever we wanted a simple and fast comforting side dish. It takes only about 7 to 8 mins including the preparation.
A simple tempering is made under 5 mins and cooled down before stirring into the yogurt. Optionally it is garnished with coriander leaves for a herby flavor. This version uses only onions, which are sautéed lightly until the raw smell is gone. They still retain the crunch and this is what makes the dish delicious.
In the past buffalo milk yogurt was a staple and it is much thicker than the cow yogurt. So the curd would be diluted with little water to have a slightly lose consistency. But with cow yogurt you don’t need to add water, unless it is too thick.
A closer version of this is majjiga pulusu but it is made with vegetables. Every family has a different recipe for this. Some people add cooling vegetables like ashgourd, bottle gourd, cucumbers etc. I also have 2 other recipes made in similar way with other vegetables. You may check them here – potlakaya perugu pachadi and sorakaya perugu pachadi
Recipe Variations
- You may add any sauteed, boiled, steamed or cooked vegetables to this. It is best to use al dente veggies and finish in the tempering with salt, fenugreek and turmeric. Use plenty of chilies, good enough to give some heat.
- Best choices are bhindi, bottle gourd, sambar cucumbers, ash gourd, methi and spinach leaves. If you are using bhindi, methi and spinach, saute them well and use.
Photo Guide
Step by Step Photo Instructions
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal and urad dal.
2. When the dal turns golden, add ginger and saute until it turns fragrant.
3. Add curry leaves and green chilies. Stir fry for a while. When the curry leaves turn crisp, add onions and fry lightly until transparent yet crunchy.
4. Add hing, turmeric and salt. If using fenugreek powder add it. Cool this completely.
5. Meanwhile add curd or yogurt to a serving bowl. Whisk it well with a fork. Add the cooled mixture to the whisked curd. Add finely chopped coriander leaves. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Serve with cooled rice. If you mix it with hot rice, the curd coagulates. We usually have a stir fry, dal or any curry on the side along with this. Finish up the dish with in 2 hours and don’t store the leftovers.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Majjiga Charu (Majjiga Pulusu)
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 medium onion sliced thinly
- 1 cup curd /yogurt (whisked)
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated or minced
- 1 to 2 green chilies slit
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 pinch hing /asafoetida
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 pinch fenugreek seeds or ¼ teaspoon roasted fenugreek seeds powder
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon oil as needed
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- â…“ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chana dal (optional)
- ½ teaspoon urad dal (optional)
Instructions
- Temper: Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard, cumin, fenugreek seeds, chana dal and urad dal. Fry until the dal turns golden. Saute ginger until it turns aromatic for 30 seconds. Add curry leaves and green chilies. Saute until the leaves turn golden.
- Next add onions and fry till they begin to turn pink. They should be partially cooked yet crunchy. Turn off the stove. Next add turmeric, hing and salt. Cool this completely.
- Make majjiga charu: Meanwhile add curd to a bowl and whisk it well. Then add the cooled tempering to this along with coriander leaves. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve majjiga chaaru with rice.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
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About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
How long does it last in the fridge?
Hi Deepa,
Partially cooked onions are not safe to refrigerate. The other thing is you won’t reheat this. If you want to store it, just make the tempering without onions. In this case you can store up to a week
Hi swasthi, how to prepare vamu rasam
Hi Harshita
I never made it so don’t know.
I am a retired government officer. I enjoy reading your blogs. I am attempting a few simple recipes.
Thank you sir
Glad to know
Really simple and delicious. Just made it and ate it too. All in 20 minutes…?.
Glad you liked it. Thank you!
Your blog is my cooking guide & this is so helpful to prepare delicious and tasty food every time. Thank you so much.
Hi Mrs.Priya,
You are welcome. So glad to know the recipes are useful. Thanks a lot!
🙂
I love all the recepies of swasthi. I tried many of them and got good results. Thank you.
Welcome Rajeshwari
So happy to know the recipes are helpful. Thanks a lot.
My grandmother, then my mother and now I do this for my family. They love it. As you correctly said, there are several versions. I don’t put ginger. Instead I put lots of Vamu (Ajowan?).
Thank you!
I heard that there is problem to eat this in night session. I would like to know about this, can u tell me Y ?
yes, eating this in the night during cold season may weaken the digestion and one may get cold. As i mentioned in the post this is best to be eaten during summers
hai,
in images one can see ginger slices./but not covered in the list.
yes there is ginger, will update the recipe. thanks for the mention
yummy… its so easy.. I always refer this site when my official trips…. Thanks!….
Welcome and Thanks.
Swathi garu it’s so helpful to me. …..thanq so much. Can you help me how to cook. Chicken with out smell. Please
Hi Satish,
Hope i understood your question right. You do not want the smell of raw chicken when it is getting cooked. Try these.
Always use fresh chicken, do not buy frozen or country chicken. They smell a lot.
Add some salt, handful very finely chopped pudina leaves to buttermilk, add the washed chicken to this and leave for 45 minutes. chicken must be immersed completely in buttermilk. If you have time you can leave it in the fridge overnight.
Drain off the buttermilk completely.
Use as mentioned in the recipe.
I would suggest few recipes which may not smell while cooking
restaurant style chicken 65
restaurant style andhra chicken fry
pepper chicken
chicken fried rice
chicken schezwan fried rice
Do try and share how it turned out.
I want this right now :)onion and green chilli roasted and added to yogurt very yummy…
Thanks Kushi. Try it iam sure you will like it.
Nice very yummy
Thank you Madhuri
🙂
Looks super yummy !!<br />
Just with onions, majiga charu looks fabulous and fingerlicking.
yummy yogurt recipe.
Lovely way to have your raita, love the crunch with the onions
Flavorful and yummy charu.
loved this simple yet delicious curry.
This is something new and looks yummy 🙂
I am not sure but we call such a dish as yogurt curry. That yogurt, spices, curry leaves and coriander leaves are so inviting, into the tangy thick gravy.