Spicy, Aromatic and Sinfully Addictive!! Kerala Style Mango Pickle made with Gingelly oil and Spices… A Perfect side with any rice dish…!
How are your Vishu preparations coming along? Only three more days left and I’ve kicked off mine by preparing pickles to start with. This year I am celebrating Vishu at my place with a few friends and family, and we are also preparing Sadya; our traditional vegetarian feast. Vishu is a Hindu New Year festival, celebrated in the Southern State of India, my hometown; Kerala. Just like Onam (our biggest festival), Vishu is also a grant festival with family and friends getting together, all dressed in new attires, preparing Vishu Kani, Vishu Sadya, offering Vishu Kyineetham, attending special Poojas at temples, and many more.
So coming back to our recipe today, pickles and condiments are an integral part of Indian cuisine. The taste, color, preparation, and the spices used vary from place to place. Pickles made with mango, lemon and ginger are very popular in Kerala and a must have for Sadya. Among those, mangoes are my favourite …! The sourness of the fruit, the heat from the red chili powder, and the aroma of fenugreek and asafetida, together make a tongue tickling combination.
During my childhood, whenever my ammumma (grandma) opened one of those big bharanis (storage jars) of mango pickle, the aroma was so strong that I would stop whatever I was doing and run to her to get a sample to taste. During the mango season, she used to prepare pickles in large quantities and store them in the bharanis for usage throughout the year. At times when you are short of any side dishes at home, a spoon of the achar (pickle) along with rice and plain yogurt is enough to satisfy your appetite. And now when the mangoes are in season, I too have my stock of two big jars of pickle, ready to savour!
This Kerala Style Mango Pickle recipe is purely my mother’s creation and straight from her kitchen. Variations of it with the addition of ginger and garlic are also good. Feel free to customize it according to your style, coz it’s all about the balance of heat, spice, sour and salt.
Also guys, don’t forget to check out my Lemon Dates Pickle recipe.
Enjoy, Vishu Aashamsakal…!!!
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Spicy, Aromatic and Sinfully Addictive!! Green Mango Pickle made with Gingelly oil and Spices… A Perfect side with any rice dish…!
- 2 green mangoes
- 4 tbsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp kaayam / hing / asafetida
- ¼ tsp uluva / fenugreek powder
- 1-2 sprigs of curry leaves
- 4-5 tbsp nallenna / gingelly oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Salt (as required)
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Peel the mangoes, then cut into half and remove the seeds.
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Slice the mango thinly into small pieces. Keep aside.
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Heat oil in a pan or a kadai, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add curry leaves.
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Reduce the flame to a low and add fenugreek powder & asafetida, saute for few seconds. Add red chili powder and saute well. Ensure not to burn the powders. You can remove the pan from the flame and add spices, stir, and place back on a low flame to avoid burning.
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Add mangoes and salt, mix well and stir on the low flame for 1 minute. Adjust salt and red chili powder according to your spice level.
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Turn off the flame and allow the mango pickle to cool down in the pan for a few hours. Later transfer it to a clean dry glass jar or a ceramic jar and close it with a tight lid.
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Serve with steamed rice.
- Adjust the red chili powder according to your spice level.
- For an authentic taste, use gingelly oil when making pickles, otherwise you can use any oil of your choice.
- Use a clean dry glass jar or a ceramic jar / bharani to store pickles. Do not use steel or metal jars as the acidic nature of the pickles may react with the metal and become toxic.
- You can store the pickles at room temperature initially for a few days, but refrigerate thereafter to prevent decay.
- Variations of this recipe with ginger, garlic or vinegar are also very tasty, try them if you prefer.
Super
Thank You Susie 🙂
Oh, I’m so glad I found this recipe because I’ve never eaten something like this! From what I understand this recipe uses unripe mangos, right?
P.S. I also have the suspicion that here in Greece, imported mangos have much less taste than the ones you grew up with (so jealous!!!)
Haha…yeah we are blessed with mango trees in everywhere in Kerala. The recipe uses unripe green mangoes for making pickle, cz the sour taste is the highlight for any pickle!!!
HI ,
Thank you for a great recipe. Which brand of gingelly oil do you use and where can I buy it in the USA
Hey Shefali, I am using Idhayam Gingelly Oil. You can find them in your nearby Indian/Asian grocery stores.
Thank you so much. Would you please post a recipe for kerala style fish and prawn pickle. Love your recipes.
Sorry for the delay in responding, I was away on vacation.
I have been longing for a while to do a fish pickle, but getting postponed due to the unavailability of of the right fish. Will keep you posted once I have one out.
Supper
Thank You Appu!!
Can i use ripe mangoes and add lemon in the mix for sourness ?
I haven’t tried it though, but I don’t think that it would give the same flavour nor would have a long shelf life.
Sister I made this pickle exactly as you said but it got spoiled on the third day itself I just added one tap of vinegar to it isn’t it’s shelf life supposed to be one year why it happened like that
Hey John, Sorry to hear that your pickle got spoiled.
Adding Vinegar should help to preserve the pickle for a longer time. Other reasons I could think off are; not using a dry glass jar, or living in hot and humid places where you will have to refrigerate it in a day or two.
Another recommendation would be to top the pickle and immerse in oil when you intend to preserve long.
Good recipe. I tried it. One suggestion is that you could reduce the quantity of mustards to tsp rather than tbsp. My pickle has too many mustards in it now😐. Otherwise tastes good. I also added a tbsp of vinegar as I like pickles sour.
Thank You Shibani for trying it out and for your suggestion. I have updated the recipe and cut down the mustard seeds to 1 tsp.
This is one of my favourite pickles!
Can you please clarify what is the weight of the mangoes in this recipe, given the quantity of spices? The 2 green mangoes found in the shops can be small or big. Thank you
Those are 2 big mangoes (app. 400gm). I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!