Vadu maanga pickle

Vadu Maanga and thayir saatham....mmmm..... heavenly. Those who have tried it will understand what is it that I am talking about. Curd rice and vadu maanga pickle combination is a very very common tummy entertainer and cooler in Tamilnadu

I have always had plenty of good friends around me all the time who have gifted me jars of specially made pickle handed over with lots of love. My mom never made it so I did not know about this pickle till I went to college. There were plenty of friends in the hostel where I stayed and that is where I first got introduced to this. From then on I have been hooked to this pickle than any other

I tried this recipe last summer for the first time with my friend "my dear VM pickle supplier" when she was relocating. I knew that I had to learn the recipe and the best time to get the perfect recipe from her was then or never :) So last year we made a big jar of it but this year I tried only a little as it was first try on my own. It turned out good and tasted great. The only problem was that the jar got emptied very soon this time coz I made only little and also coz my lil kiddo loves it too. He was after my pickle all the time. Jotting down the recipe here so that I can pull it up again next year to restack my pickle jars

Serves... Stays in the fridge for long periods

Serve option... With Curd rice

This is what u'll need....

Vadu maanga / Baby Mangoes - 10-12 nos
Gingelly Oil - 2 tbspn
Mustard seeds - 1 tbspn
Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tbspn
Red Chillies - 4-5 nos
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn
Hing/asafoetida - 1/6 tspn
Salt to taste
Water - Boiled and cooled

Here is the stir....

• Wash the baby mangoes and set it aside to dry on a kitchen towel

• Make sure that the mangoes are completely dry and then transfer the mangoes to a ceramic bowl. Apply gingelly oil to it

• Heat up a non-stick pan and dry roast mustard seeds and fenugreek to it

• Once you start smelling the fenugreek add chillies and roast on low flame 

• Let the spices cool down to room temperature. Transfer it into a small mixer jar and grind it

• Spoon in salt, turmeric powder and hing / asafoetida

• Boil water and cool it down to room temp. Add 1/4 cup of water to the powder and give it a quick pulse

• Transfer the contents to the bowl/jar with mangoes

• Shake the jar to coat the mangoes with spice mixture. The juices tend to settle in the bottom and its absolutely ok

• Keep in a dry and dark place. In a couple of days the mangoes will start shrinking and level of juices would have come up. Mix it a couple of times everyday to help with the soaking process

• In about a weeks time the pickle should be ready to be served

Note:

• Always use a dry spoon when handling pickles
• Adjust spice to suit your needs. I ended up on the lesser end keeping my kids in mind
• Even castor oil is used to make this pickle but I have not thought of it... you can say I am not a big fan of it :)