Ajethna or Ajadina is a dry gravyless vegetable curry. Ajadina means dried in the Tulu

Tulu language

The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...

 language. The ajethna is eaten along with plain cooked rice as part of Udupi cuisine

Udupi cuisine

Udupi cuisine is a world-renowned cuisine of South India. It forms an important part of the Cuisine of Karnataka and takes its name from Udupi, a town on the southwest coast of India in the state of Karnataka. The Udupi cuisine has its origin in the Ashta mathas of Udupi founded by...

. The vegetables generally used in ajethna are cluster beans, french beans, beetroot, snake gourd, bitter gourd, ladies finger and others.

Preparing Ajethna

Wash the vegetables. Chop the vegetable into small rectangular pieces. Put coconut oil

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...

 in a frying or saute pan and add red chilli and mustard

Mustard seed

Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Mustard seeds may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional foods. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard , brown...

seeds to the oil, saute it, add the chopped vegetables and salt to taste. Stir it for a few minutes and remove from heat. Turmeric powder or cumin seeds or garam masala can be added for different taste. The ajethna is generally served with cooked rice or chapati.