Vadu Maanga Pickle

I always have a craving for Mango pickles and especially in summer when curd/yogurt rice becomes your main food. I remember the big jars in which my mother used to make and keep vadu maangas. She would fill the jar in March and that would last us good 6 months. The still remember the smell that would be filled in the room after I open the lid. I got the recipe from my mother and how many ever I try to make it close to hers, I fail. But lately I feel I have mastered the art. Try this recipe and let me know how this turns out.

Ingredients

·         Take vadu maangas (raw mangoes smaller than the size of lemon) in a half litre container(about 3-4 cups)

·         Salt – 3/4^th of a cup [Vadu maangas taste well if made from Sea Salt]

·         Mustard (Kadugu) – 3 spoons

·         Red Chilli powder – 4 tablespoons

·         Vilakku ennai/Castor oil – 1 tablespoon

·         Turmeric Powder – ½ spoon

Preparation

·         Wash the vadu maangas well and wipe to remove water

·         Add Castrol oil and mix well with all the vadu maangas.

·         Grind mustard in a mixer with little water and mix well with vadu maangas

·         If you are using sea salt, grind well in a mixer.

·         Mix salt with Red Chilli powder and turmeric and mix well with vadu maangas

·         Move this to a porcelain jar and close the lid.

·         Open the jar everyday for 1 week and shake and mix well the pickle once every day until you see all the water from the maangas come out and they shrink.

Vadu maanga is one of the simplest pickles. Try this recipe and let me know how it turns out. Make sure that you try to keep the pickle in a porcelain/Glass jar as other vessels get spoilt and also spoil the pickle.