Raw Mango pickle

Back home in India, this is the time of the year that we all love. Several varieties of mangoes are available from March onwards until late August. It is a pleasure to see the markets and the road side vendors sitting with filled baskets of freshly harvested mangoes. And their fragrance is very appetizing.

Living here in the middle east we miss all this fun because we are visiting India only once a year and generally not during Indian summer. Mangoes are the summer season's specialty so if you want to avoid the summer, you should also be ready to sacrifice eating the juicy, delectable and the sweetest mangoes. We do get a lot of mangoes here also, but they are not as good as the ones you get in India.

Recently we observed that our local grocery store was selling green unripe mangoes. I bravely went on to buy a Kilogram of it so that I could try my hand in pickling them. I have never made a mango pickle earlier and this was certainly my first try. For me pickles was only a grandma's work and I used to feel that I am too young to make pickle. Huh ... !!!! Those were my thoughts earlier but not from now on because I really managed successfully to pickle mangoes and this is how my recipe goes:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups raw green mango (about 3-4 small mangoes)

1 teaspoon salt

 tablespoon oil

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

2 small sprigs curry leaves

¼ teaspoon fenugreek powder

½ teaspoon asafetida

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder

4 tablespoon water

 

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Wash the mangoes well and dice them evenly. You can throw their seeds away.

 

 

 

 

2) Sprinkle some salt on the diced mangoes and leave them aside for 5-6 hours. This process will dehydrate the mangoes and remove their water content out.

 

3) Throw away this water and get ready to make the pickle now.

 

4) Heat oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add mustard seeds and stir in curry leaves, and spice mixtures—fenugreek, asafetida, chili, turmeric—and cook, stirring, for 15 seconds. Pour in water and bring to boil over low heat.

 

5) Remove from heat, add the diced mango and mix well. Taste and add salt if needed.

 

6) Bottle this in clean jars and keep them in the sun for 2-3 days. This will help to soften the mangoes and the spices will get absorbed during this process. If you make this during the winter season and you can't have the sunlight, then you can still leave in a warm place for 2-3 days and then start using it.