Manga Pachadi

Two posts in one day, you must be wondering dear friends what is happening here. Today I was able to get home a little early from work and hence I am catching up on the blogging. Today's recipe is for my Aunt who has requested it. It's a Mango pachadi or chutney that is usually prepared during the Tamil New Year's day that traditionally falls on April 14th. On this day we usually garnish it with Neem flowers fried in ghee, but it can be made without it and tastes equally great. It is made to signify how life is, a mixture of ups and downs. This chutney has the sweetness from the jaggery, sourness from the mangoes, bitterness from need flowers and the hotness from the chillies. It's an amazing accompaniment for curd rice!

You will need                 

1 Mango(the more tangy the better)

1 cup jaggery

1 teaspoon oil

Some mustard seeds

Two green chillies slit lengthwise

1. Remove the skin of the mango, cut the mangos into pieces and cook it till it becomes soft (I usually put it in the pressure cooker, two whistles)

2. Mash the mango and make a nice pulp and keep aside

3. Cut the jaggery into small pieces. The traditional way to do this is to boil it 1/4 cup of water and filter it to remove all the impurities. But I do believe that the quality of the jaggery has improved over time.

4. Add the jaggery to a kadai ona low flame and let it melt, once the jaggery has melted add the mango mixture and mix well.

5. Once the mixture some to a boil, remove it from the fire.

6. For the seasoning, heat some oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the green chillis and fry for a minute. Add this to the pachadi.

How different is this from the traditional pachadi. Usually the mango pieces are not over cooked and they retain their cut form. But I like it this way, you can try it anyway and decide. This was a staple in my house on all festivals, my mom loves it and my dad and I use to hate it. But now my tastes have changed and I have learnt to love this dish. This is the way my mom makes it, my only touch to this is to pressure cook the mangoes and smash it to a nice pulp.