Maanga Kaalan [Ottapalam Special]

My mother hails from a sweet little village in Palghat district of Kerala.
My childhood holds memories of the lush green fields,the wind fresh with the fragrance of ripening mangoes and jackfruit. The heat was not an issue ,back then.

Childhood could have been  the reason ,why we never fretted over the heat or the sweat and dust!! My cousins and me had the best times of our lives ,during vacations and we were never boggled by the fact that our village was not in the best books of the electricity Gods.

The number of mangoes we ate was unbelievable,the varieties we saw , smelt and then tore up with our teeth,even more .We were adept at eating mangoes from the tree ,and the tree doubled up by being a great place to hide from the adults.

I remember one vacation when our tummies  were   full with sweet mangoes ,my cousin got a plate with  salt and chilly powder mixed.He asked us to dunk the ripe mango in it n slurp it...mmmmm..I get flooded in my mouth with saliva when i just think of it. Thats a memory that will remind me of our wonderful childhood.Thank you Aniyetta.

My mother and her sisters would be busy with cooking and catching up on the latest gossip and we cousins would flit from one aunts house to another ..running bare feet and enjoying it.
At times we would end up having two breakfasts or lunches...so that aunt 2 would not feel bad that we already ate from aunt 1's house.My cousins were the best ,any child could ask for,and we had perfect understanding between us.Not one fight would go beyond an hour of silence.Kids these days miss this type of holidays.

We looked forward to all meals,as specials were made during vacations .It was also the time for visitors to drop in and then stay for a meal.My stay in my dear village during vacations was an eye opener to me.The vegetarian dishes that were made were far better that some non vegetarian dishes I have had.

There was a whole lot of love going into these dishes and also that, we were perpetually hungry kids.
There is one particular recipe I would like to share  ,Maanga Kaalan...its a yogurt based mango curry.,and is a hit curry with us ,sweet and sour..tangy and spicy.

MAANGA KAALAN

We need

1. Ripe Mangoes-cut into big chunks.[I use the seed too]-1 kg
2. Coconut grated-1 and 1/2 cups
3. Curd/Yogurt-1 and 1/2 cups
4. Green chilly-6 to 7
5. Jeera/cumin seeds-a pinch
6. Jaggery-2 to 3 pieces[or as per taste]
7. Salt to taste
8. Turmeric/haldi-1/2 tsp

Tadka
Oil-2 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Methi seeds/uluva/fenugreek seeds-1/2 tsp
curry leaves-2 springs
Red chilly-2
Method

mango pieces boiling after adding jaggery

ground coconut paste

1. Pressure cook the mango pieces and seeds with turmeric in 1 cup of water and salt.
2. Once it cools and the pressure has settled,open the cooker and add the jaggery. Boil for some time.
3. Grind the grated coconut, jeera and green chilly to a smooth paste.
4. Once the coconut is ground,pour  the curd into the mixer and blitz for once.
5. Reduce the heat of the cooker[mango and jaggery mixture] and add the curd and coconut paste .
6. Heat it just a little do not boil .take off heat
7. In a small kadai heat oil and splutter the mustard, methi,red chilly and curry leaves.pPour over the curry.
8. Serve hot with steamed rice.

yummy maanga kaalan ready

 

want some ?