Know your Veggies:
THE STORY OF UDUPI BRINJAL (MATTU GULLA)
Mattu Gulla is a variety of brinjal grown in Mattu village, Udupi and adored for its unique taste
Sri Vaadiraja Tirtha used to offer a prasad called Hayagreeva Maddi (made of Bengal gram, jaggery, grated coconut) to Sri Hayagreeva daily.
Hayagreeva ate some of it and left rest for Vaadiraja. One day, some jealous bhaktas mixed poison in the Maddi. That day Prabhu did not come. When Vadiraja prayed, he came but ate whole Maddi and did not leave anything.
He, then, turned blue as also the murti of Krishna at Udupi
Hayagreeva, then, gave few seeds to heartbroken Vaadiraja n said that the plant would grow in 48 days
The brinjals from those plants were cooked, offered to Hayagreeva for 48 days after which poison receded
The tradition of offering 1st crop to Krishna in Udupi continues to date
Sambar prepared using Mattu Gulla is considered very special at the Udupi Krishna Mutt.
This is a rare example of a vegetable which has acquired fame with religious patronage.
It has become a Geographical Indication (GI) tagged vegetable and a patented one in 2011
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