In a World of Mangoes, Ripe & Raw
A pickle recipe attached
This season of mangoes walks in side by side with the worldwide lockdown. The roadside seller sitting outside a closed jewellery shop is from an adjacent Panchayath. By the time we are back from the market most of his ripe mangoes are nearly over. He is packing to go home. He may return tomorrow.
A Mango season is about big and small slices of mango mixed with every meal. Savoury pickles, salads with grated coconut, flattened & sun dried pappad/thera, juice & milkshakes, mango fool, the raw mango juice/aampanna, pooris & aam ras/mango pulp, ice cream the list runs so long it seems to go on and on according to the culinary creativity of a household.
Slurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp.
Yes.
Every dish may hold a memory, the mangoes were too ripe for that pickle, so it was eaten as is, a portion was mixed with crushed pepper and coconut oil, oh my it was delish (pic above) It was just the right kind of juicy. I felt like carving it out of its skin this morning than slicing it into smaller pieces to nip at it with a fork. I had a colleague who used to carve out the pulp so neatly that the scrape marks of the spoon remained on the inside skin. At home, we have been very pickle happy, perfecting recipes in small quantities with a lot of mangoes in a variety of ripeness. Here goes.
Kadukku Manga Pickle (for 2 mangoes)
Kaddukku Manga translates into English as Mustard Mango. A tried & tested pickle recipe from my parents lockdown recipe book, as promised in the tagline.
Slice mango acc to pickle size, add salt (as needed), 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp/a cap of white vinegar, keep it aside for 10-14 days/ until tender.
Chop 3 pods of garlic, 10 Green Chillies, (1/2 inch Ginger) in the same shape as the mango
In a pan, heat 3 TBSp Gingelly oil, once the oil is hot, add garlic, then ginger, & finally green chillies. On sim/switch off the gas, add the 1TBSp Red chilli powder + 2 TBps Kashmiri Chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric. Once the raw taste of the powders are gone, add the tender mango.
Coarsely grind mustard seeds (3/4 tsp-1) & dry roasted fenugreek seeds (1 tsp), add to this mixture when cool. Store it for 15 days or until the oil resurfaces.
Alternatively, the initial 10-14 days can be divided into 3 phases. Keep the mango in salt & sugar. After 2-3 days, coarsely grind 2 tsp on mustard & 1 tsp fenugreek seeds mix into the mango. After 2-3 days, add 2:1 kashmiri chilli to chilli powder mix. After abt 15 days, heat abt 1/4 cup oil, cool and add to the mango mix. Keep it aside for another 10-12 days or until oil surfaces.
Always check for mold formations. If you find mold, fast forward the steps.
Will be back with more memories, mangoes and other fruits :)