Instant Cut Mango Pickle (Kerala Style) – Recipe

I have prepared this type of cut mango pickle numerous times in the past but got the chance to post the recipe only today – thanks to some pictures clicked during the process. So, without much blabber, let’s get into the act.
cut mango pickle recipe - kerala style

Ingredients

Raw mangoes – 2 medium sized
Green chillies – 10, sliced diagonally into 3 or 4 pieces
Curry leaves – 4 to 5 twigs
Garlic (optional) – 8 to 10 cloves sliced lengthwise
Gingelly oil (Sesame oil) – 2 tablespoon
Red chilli powder – 1 teasooon
Kashmiri chilli powder (Paprika) – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Big mustrard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Vinegar – 2 tablespoon
Fenugreek powder – 1 teaspoon (1 tsp seeds fresh toasted and powdered)
Asafoetida powder – ½ teaspoon (solid asafoetida toasted and powdered)
Salt – 1.5 teaspoon, or as per the tartness of the mangoes

Preparation

Clean mangoes well, wipe it with a cloth and let it dry for a few minutes. Cut them into small pieces (ideally ¾ cm cubes) with the skin on. This recipe of instant Kerala mango pickle (nadan manga acchar) needs very good raw mangoes with thick skin.

In a pan, heat 2 tablespoon of gingelly oil. When the oil is really hot, add mustard seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds. Add curry leaves, garlic, sliced green chillies (beware, never add whole green chillies to heated oil as they may explode and splash hot oil) and stir fry it for about 30 seconds. Lower the heat and add chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder and turmeric, salt and stir well for another 30 seconds. Turn off the stove and add vinegar when the pan is still hot. This helps in vaporizing some water content in the vinegar.

After five minutes and when the pan is still warm, add mango pieces and mix it all together very well. Yes, in this variety of pickle, we don’t cook the mangoes but it’s consumed rather raw. Sprinkle asafoetida and fenugreek powder and mix again. The mango pickle is almost ready!

In about an hour, this hot mouthwatering mango pickle can be transferred to an airtight bottle. You can start consuming this instantly though it tastes better after a couple of days. If garlic is used, it tastes good typically in a week or so.

By the way, while salt and gingelly oil are good preservatives, whatever little moisture the ingredients hold is good enough to spoil the pickle in a few days. Hence, if you can’t consume it within 4-5 days, you may have to refrigerate it.

Postscript: Gingely oil, Fenugreek powder and Asafoetida are the three most important ingredients that make irresistible South Indian pickle! Hence, never miss any of these ingredients nor pick any substitute oil.

In Pictures

cut mangoes

curry leaves, chillies and garlic

chilli powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek powder, asafoetida

gingelly oil

mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and garlic

chilli powder and turmeric powder added

add mango pieces and mix well

cut mango pickle - almost ready

Kerala style cut mango pickle
(This picture is shot by Aditya Edassery. He wanted all that decoration around the pickle bottle)

cut mango pickle recipe

Mango-Vanilla Ice Cream based dessert

You must try out this recipe that I accidentally invented. I had eaten ripe mango pieces topped with Vanilla ice cream in one of my friends house and thought why not improvise? So here’s what I did…

Mango Vanilla Ice Cream ‘whatever’

Ingredients

2 ripe mangoes pealed and cut into 1″ cubes (shouldn’t be over ripe mangoes)
Raisins – 3 teaspoons
Butter – 3 tbsp
Cashew nuts – broken – 20 to 30 gms (or 3- tbsp)
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Vanilla ice cream – a few scoops
Fresh mint leaves – 4 to 5

Preparation

Heat a medium sized pan, add 1tbsp butter and quickly fry the broken cashews until the are golden brown. Be careful as in no time they can turn black and bitter. Transfer the fried cashews on to a plate and remove the extra butter from the cashews by pressing with kitchen tissues.

Add 2tbsp butter into the pan again. When it’s melt, add the ripe mango cut pieces and stir continuously in medium flame. Do it until the mango pieces are soft but not mashed.

Heat up another small pan (or seasoning tawa) and add the sugar and stir it vigorously with a steel spoon. When the sugar turns to coffee color it is caramelized. Add three-four spoons of water into it keep stirring in high flame. You should not reduce the heat at this time else the caramel will be already becoming sticky. Add this to the toasted mangoes and stir once again.

Presentation

mango-caramel-vanilla-ice-cream-dessertIn a dessert bowl, add four to five table spoons of those prepared mangoes. Add two scoops of Vanilla ice cream on to it. Add five to six raisins and a teaspoon of the roasted cashews. Poke the whole content three four times with a spoon in a way that the caramel in the mango appears a bit on to the white Ice cream to give it a pleasant texture and look. Be careful not to stir it too much. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf and enjoy before the mangoes turn too cold!

Try it out and let me know how it turned out to be. You will like it for sure 🙂 You can try the variations of this recipe by adding a few banana pieces along with the mango, which is what I have done and shown in the picture. You can also add a small pinch of cardamom powder if you like that taste.

Bon Appetit!