South Indian Mango Pickle #Improvcooking

        I joined a new Facebook group Improv cooking from this month. Each month two ingredients will be chosen. Any dish can be prepared including those two ingredients.....
  The prepared dish has to be posted on the second Thursday of every month..... For this month August 2019 - Chile and Mango were the two ingredients......

When I saw the ingredients , I immediately decided to share this south Indian cut Mango pickle. It was a common household pickle in many south Indian homes. Though mango pickle is made throughout India , it differs from region to region.

 In most of the Indian homes , pickling was a common summer ritual. Mango is abundantly available in summer season. This pickle was no cook method of pickling . The mango and salt mixed together will be kept in sun for a week , followed by adding the masala - pickle is ready to be consumed.

Requirements :

3 Raw Mango
1 cup Sesame oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
4 tbs RedChilli Powder 
4 tbs Rock salt

Method: 

 Clean and dry a large mouthed porcelain / Glass jar.
 Wash and pat dry the raw mangoes.
 Cut the mangoes into large cubes and place the mango cubes in the porcelain jar , sprinkle the salt in between the mango pieces like layering.
Place the jar in direct sunlight for a week.
Stir the mangoes in between using a wooden spoon.
The mango pieces will shrink by the time.
Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and Mustard seeds and blend it to fine powder.
Add the red chilli powder , ground fenugreek - mustard to the salted mango cubes and mix well.
Add the organic sesame oil to the mixture and mix well with an wooden spoon.
Check salt and spice level , if needed can add more.
You can keep the pickle in sun light for few more days.
South Indian Mango Pickle is ready to serve.

We usually consume this pickle with curd rice........

Note : 

 If you are not able to dry in sunlight , Just spread the cut mango pieces in a cotton cloth and dry in room temperature till the moisture went off.
Mix all the ingredients and place the jar of pickle in the refrigerator section.

 Improv Cooking Challenge: August 2019  

Theme - Chilly & Mango
Chileta Mango suckers by Pandemonium Noshery 
Grilled Steaks with Mango and Jalapeno byA Day in the Life on the Farm 
Raw Mango Moong Dal Chutney / Mamidikaya Pesarapappu Pachadi by Sneha's Recipe

South Indian Mango Pickle by Sara's Tasty Buds

Mango chocolate marble cake – Eggless

    This was the challenge for the home baker's challenge suggested by sangeetha akka of spicy treats . Th is was the second challenge in this baking group. The combination of mango and chocolate was so delicious.

       I made an eggless cake with butter .

Requirements : 

All purpose flour – 2 cup

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Baking soda – ½ tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Sugar – ¾ cup

Mango pulp – 1 cup

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Cocoa powder – ¼ cup (mix with 2 tbs warm water)

Butter – ½ cup

Yogurt – ½ cup

Method :

 Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together thrice.

In a bowl, whisk butter, sugar ,  , mango pulp , vanilla essence and yogurt together.

Add the flour mixture to these and fold in .

To the half of  the batter , mix the cocoa powder mixed with warm water and mix gently.

Grease the baking pan, I used the flower pan , and pour both the batter alternatively to get your desired pattern , make swirls as you like.

Tap the pan gently to set the batter evenly and bake in a preheated oven @ 220*C for 30 – 30 or till the skewer inserted comes out clean.

Take off from the oven and let it cool.

Demould , slice and serve.

Delicious eggless mango marbled cake is ready to serve.

Note :

I used homemade mango pulp – peel off the skin , scoop out the pulp and grind once and use.

If the batter was thick , add little milk to get the correct consistency.

Instead of yogurt , half cup of milk and half cup of buttermilk can be used.

 

Mangai Murungaikai Sambar / Mango Drumstick Lentil Curry

 Sambar was the integral part of the southindian cuisine. It is a tangy lentil curry with fresh vegetables. It can be served along with plain rice , idli , dosa or roti , vada , fritters.

  Sambar is nothing but the spicy lentil curry cooked along with any of these are all of these vegetables such as drumstick , potato , eggplant , radish , bottlegourd , pumpkin , chow chow and so on.

  There are many varities of sambar , I too had posted some of the sambar varities  check them out .........

 Drumstick sambar

  Beetrootsambar

  Radishsambar

 Plantain stem sambar

  Bottlegourd sambar

    

This sambar has both drumstick and
mango , especially raw mango.  murungakai is the Tamil name for Drumstick and mangai means mango.

Adding mango to the sambar gives a unique taste and flavor , it will be delicious.

  I like adding mango to sambar a lot , as mango will be tangy reduce the tamarind in this sambar.

Requirements :

Tuvar dhal – 1 cup

Shallots – 6

Onion - 1

Drumstick – 2

Raw Mango pieces – 6

Sambar powder – 1 tbs

Salt as required

Oil – 1 tbs

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Garlic – 4 cloves

Curry leaves – a sprig

Asafetida – a pinch

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Tamarind – marble size

Method :

Soak the tamarind in a cup of water. Extract the tamarind juice after few minutes.

Wash and add the dhal to a pressure cooker.

Add in turmeric powder , shallots , garlic along with two cup of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Heat oil in a pan , add the mustard seeds and let it crackle.

Now , add the asafetida and chopped onion, sauté till it turns translucent.

Add in the curry leaves and sambar powder , sauté till raw smell leaves.

Now , add the chopped drumstick pieces and stir once.

Add a cup of water to cook the drumstick. Leftover water from the cooked dhal can be used.

When the drumstick is cooked add the tamarind extract and let it boil.

Add in the required salt and mix well.

When the raw smell of the tamarind is went off add the cooked dhal and mix well.

Add in the mango pieces and let it simmer for ten minutes.

Delicious mango drumstick sambar is ready to serve.

Serve with plain rice along with ghee.

Note :

I usually add the mango pieces at the last as it will not be over cooked.

Any other vegetables can also be added.

Spicy Mango Rice / Mangai Sadham

 Season of mangoes has begin , shops are with  pile of mangoes. This rice tastes different from usual mango rice.

  This rice is spicy mango rice , as specially grounded masala is used to make this rice . It will be excellent option for lunchboxes.

 There are many recipes can be made with this excellent fruit or is it a vegetable , if used raw , i don't know what to call. Anyway it was a divine ingredient. Yes , it was divine , we people will offer this wonderful to god.

 Those who are crave for spicy tangy dishes will like this rice.

 Requirements :

Cooked Rice – 2 cup

Grated Mango – ¾ cup

Green chilli – 2

Oil – 1 tbs

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Curry leave – a sprig

Cashew – 4 – 5

For spice powder :

Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

Cummin – ¼ tsp

Dry chilli – 5

Grated coconut – 1 tbs

Method :

Heat a pan , roast the fenugreek seeds and keep aside.

In the same pan , dry roast cummin and red chilli and keep aside.

Dry roast the grated coconut and let it cool.

Grind all together to a fine powder – spice powder.

This spice powder can be added to other gravies , it was so flavorful.
 As i used  semiripe mango , i chopped it into small pieces. I f using raw mango grate it.
I like using semiripe mango as it has both sweet and sour taste.

Heat oil in a kadai , add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.

Add in the curry leaves , cashew and slit green chillies , saute well.

Add in the chopped mango and saute for a minute.

Add in the turmeric powder and required salt , saute once.

Now , add the cooked rice and mix well.

Keep stirring for five minutes.

Now , add a spoon of the grounded spice mix to the kadai and mix well. This gives a slight red color to the rice.

Take off from flame and serve.

Serve along with vadagam/ fryums. It will be delicious.

Spicy Mango rice is ready to serve.

Mango Kurma / Mangai Kurma

 I like mangoes a lot , as it is available only during the season. I will make use of it fully. This kurma is easy to make and goes well with rice , idli or dosa.

  Mango is the national fruit of India , pakistan and phillipines. It is native to southeast asia , it must be to India as the botanical name is Mangifera Indica . The english word mango originated from the Tamil word Mangai .

  Mango is a rich source of Vitamin C and carotene (Vit A ) , Dietary fiber and also essential nutirents like phosphorous and copper are present.

Many recipes can be made using this wonderful fruit , even the raw mango can be eated as it is with chilli powder and salt.

 This kurma needs semi ripe mango , even firm and ripe mango can be used.

Requirements :

Semi ripe mango – 1

Oil – 2 tbs

Onion – 1

 Tomato – 1

Ginger – 1’’ piece

Garlic – 5 cloves

Cashew – 5

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Red chilli – 4

Green chilli - 1

Grated coconut – 1 tbs

Cinnamon – 1 small stick

Cloves – 2

Aniseed – ½ tsp

Cummin – ½ tsp

Pepper corns – 5

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Curry leaves

Salt as required

Method :

Chop the onion and tomato.

Heat a spoon of oil in a pan , add the  cummin , pepper , coriander seeds , aniseeds  and fry well.

Now , add the cinnamon stick, cloves , dry chillies and saute for a minute.

 Add in the chopped onion , tomato , ginger , garlic , slit green chilli and curry leaves , saute well till raw smell leaves.

Now , add in the cashew and grated coconut , toss once and take off from flame.

Let it cool.

Grind into a fine paste with little water.

Chop the mango into large cubes, so it won’t disintegrate while cooking.

Heat the remaining oil , add the grounded paste and curry leaves , saute for few minutes .

Add about 2 cup of water and let it boil. Add quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder and required salt.

When the gravy boils , add in the mango cubes .

Let it simmer for 5 minutes  or more.

Mango gravy is ready to serve.

Serve with Rice , Roti , Idli or Dosa.

Mango Sago Pudding

   Today was the Tamil New year - name of this year is  Vijaya aandu ( vijaya means victory ) . I wish everyone to succeed in all . Iniya Tamil Puthandu Nalvalthukal ( Wishing you a Happy Tamil New year ).

 Sharing  the happiness with the dessert , as no festival won't be fulfilled without a dessert , here is the simple yet delicious dessert..........

                 
                             

 Sago / Tapioca pearls are small edible beads made of Tapioca flour. Sago is called as Javvarisi in Tamil. It is used in making payasam, vadai.

 I want to make it in a different way. I made this dessert after getting inspiration from Indonesian dessert.

As , this was the season of Mango , I used mango in this dessert. The vibrant color of the mango gives the dessert a appealing look.

 This was a simple and quick dessert made with few ingredients. Yes , four ingredients is needed to make this delicious dessert.

Requirements :

Sago – ¼ cup

Grated coconut – 2 cup

Sugar – 4 tbs

Chopped Mango – ½ cup

Method :

Wash and soak the sago in water for few minutes.

Peel the skin of the mango and cut into small cubes.

Extract thick milk from the freshly grated coconut – grind them with little water and strain.

Add the sugar to the coconut milk and mix well.

Cook the soaked sago pearls for 5 minutes. It must be cooked and crunchy.

Wash the cooked sago in water to remove the starch.

In the serving glass / bowl , add about 2 tbs of sago as first layer.

Add a table spoon of the mango cubes.

Pour about quarter cup of coconut milk on top.

Let it chill for few minutes in refrigerator and serve.

Mango Sago Pudding is ready to serve.

Note :

Any fruit of your choice can be added.

use Nylon sago , as it is small and easily cooked.