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Food

Avakkai Pickle (Mango Pickle) Recipe

Sweet-spicy pickled green mangoes are the perfect accompaniment to everything from rice and dal to grilled cheese.
Mango Pickle Recipe (Avakkai Pickle)
Photo by Heami Lee

Makes about 5 cups
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 weeks

Ingredients

4 cups chopped small raw sour green mangoes (about 4 mangoes)
1 ½ cups|177 grams red chilli powder (Kashmiri or pickle chilli powder, if available)
1 cup|90 grams ground yellow mustard seeds
¾ cup|110 grams powdered sea salt
2 cups gingelly oil (a kind of sesame oil, but different from what’s used in Asian cooking)
2 tablespoons non-roasted fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons turmeric powder
½ cup|100 grams chickpeas (optional)

Directions

  1. Cut mangoes vertically down the middle and split the seed in half. Remove the seed but leave the hard outer coating beneath the seed that’s attached to the fruit. Slice the mangoes vertically again, then chop into chunky pyramid-like pieces.
  2. Mix cut mangoes, salt, fenugreek seeds, turmeric powder and chickpeas in a non-reactive glass or ceramic bowl. Using a spoon, pack the mixture down tightly and leave for a day.
  3. After a day, a layer of water would have released from the mangoes. Add chilli powder, ground yellow mustard seeds and 1 cup of gingelly oil. Pat down tightly and leave for a second day.
  4. Then, add another ½ cup|120 ml of gingelly oil. Do not mix again. Leave for a third day to allow the oil will settle to the bottom of the dish.
  5. Repeat the previous step with the remaining gingelly oil and leave for another week.
  6. On the final day, mix together and store in a porcelain or glass airtight container in a cool dry place. The pickle can be kept for a year.

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