Nadan Pazha Manga Curry / Kerala Ripe Mango Curry

You either 'love' Nadan Pazha Manga Curry or 'hate' it. It's all about whether you like  ripe mangoes, made into a curry, tangy, hot and sweet with the flavour of coconut and jaggery blended in.
I should admit, everyone except my dad, back home, in Kerala, love this side dish. Amma makes it   sweeter with lesser amount of coconut, but I thought of blogging the recipe, the Kerala way :). Suma, our maid, assisted me throughout and I enjoyed the luxury of watching her making it, clicking pictures and making a note of what she had been explaining :)

Ammayi, my husband's grandma, used to make Mambazha Kuzhambu, the Tamil counterpart, which I clearly remember as a much 'easy to make' dish with a  flavourful concoction of sliced, half ripened mangoes straight from our side yard, jaggery and sambhar powder with no compromise on taste.

Back to ours, I made up my mind to make the curry, when Amma got hold of a few organic mangoes, the original naadan pazha manga. Most of them were consumed as mangoes as such and I had to battle hard to save some here for the curry :)

Nadan Pazha Manga Curry / Kerala Ripe Mango Curry 
Serves 6
Prep time- 20 mins
Cooking time - 15 mins
Total time needed - 30 mins


Ingredients:

8 small sized ripe Mangoes
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp table salt
 2 whole green chillies, each slit until 3/4th, lengthwise
A handful or 1/4 cup scant crushed jaggery or nadan sarkara 

To grind to a paste:

1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeerakam
2 shallots / pearl onions / ulli
2 small cloves or 1 medium clove garlic

To season:

1.5 - 2 tbsps  coconut oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds / uluva
2 tbsps of sliced pearl onions / ulli 
A sprig of curry leaves


 Method:




Wash the mangoes well and drain in a colander. These mangoes are small sized as you see.




Peel the skin of each. You can do this easily only if they are well ripened.
Pour 1 cup of water in a sauce pan and, arrange the mangoes.  Add 1 tsp chilly powder, half a tsp salt and the green chillies and cook for 6-8 minutes.




Add along a handful of crushed molasses while simmering . You need to melt the lumps completely. (You may close the pan and simmer in lowest flame and give a gently stir now and then to assure the they are melted) while you do the grinding part, that follows...




Grind grated coconut along with turmeric, shallots, garlic adding 1/4 cup water to a paste, not too smooth, but a bit coarse.




If the jaggery has melted well, it is better to remove the pan from the stove as I did. Combine the paste by a gentle stir. Add water only if necessary. Let the curry be not too runny. Simmer for 3 minutes , to ward off  the raw smell of the paste. Check salt and add accordingly.




In the mean while, you can do the seasoning part.
Heat 1.5 - 2 tbsps of oil in a kadai, Crackle the mustard seeds, brown the fenugreek and add along the sliced onions and curry leaves. Caramelise the onions.




  Add to the curry and combine gently. Keep the curry closed for alteast an hour before serving, for the spices and sweetness to meld.

Serve with steamed rice.

 These country mangoes are fibrous as you see  above in this picture. That's the uniqueness of this delicacy. as well :)

We were four of us and had the curry, the following day too as the spices would seep in better.
So, feel free to halve the recipe :)

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Mango Panna Cotta

I always thought Panna Cotta was a 'difficult to make' dessert. But then now I realize, it isn't. As a teen, I was obsessed with whipping up perfect puddings: caramel, mousse, tender coconut and had this flair to play with the hidden ingredient, agar agar or gelatin, which gave the body to the comforting desserts in various forms and flavours.

Coming to Panna Cotta, which means cooked cream, as you all might know, is an Italian dessert, a basic one made of milk and cream, thickened and moulded by gelatin and flavoured with rum, coffee, vanilla etc.
Generally, you might have come across 'Coulis' ( pronounced /kuːˈliː/ koo-LEE; French) is a form of thick sauce made from puréed and strained vegetables or fruits. The interesting note about this dessert is that it is quite a versatile one, means, once you get the hang of making the basic  pudding, you can be creative with it.

Now, coming to Mango Panna Cotta, as the name sounds, is a combination of mango coulis and cooked milk and cream flavoured with vanilla both set individually by gelatin.You can set it in a pudding dish as layers, Mango Coulis(which is set by gelatin) as the base and with milk and cream on top, the other way round, more of mango and less of milk and cream mix and vice versa. Anyways, I can assure, it tastes yummy. Its easier than you think, though the whole thing seems complicated. You can pleasantly surprise your guests setting them in individual glass cups, as I have done and yes, you will have compliments pouring in! :)

Mango Panna Cotta

For 5 small individual servings 

Before we start, let me tell you, I used 5 glass cups of 100 ml each. Hence I prepared 250 ml of mango pulp and 250 ml of milk and cream mixture to fill them all.

For Mango Coulis

A 250 ml cup Mango Pulp made from de-skinned chunks of fresh mangoes ( Ripe mangoes like alphonso render that bright yellow hue)
1-3 tsps Powdered Sugar or according to your sweet level. ( I did not add as the mangoes were sweet enough)
1 tsp of gelatin (soaked in 3 tbsps of cold water for 30 minutes in refrigerator to bloom)

For the Milk Mixture

150 ml Full fat milk
100 ml Heavy Cream ( I used Amul fresh cream )
2-3 tsps of sugar ( I used 2)
1 tsp of gelatin (soaked in 3 tbsps of cold water for 30 minutes in refrigerator to bloom)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Mix up and set



Part 1- Mango Coulis

Mix in sugar while you pulp the mango cubes. Take out the 1tsp gelatin from the refrigerator and melt gently in  a pan in low and controlled flame on stove top. Transfer the mango pulp to this and combine in low heat just under the boiling point or remove from fire before it starts to bubble. This is to ensure that the ingredients are incorporated well.

Whisk gently while cooling down.While luke warm, transfer the mix gently to tilted glasses. I used my ice tray to hold the 45 deg position. Secure mouths with cling wraps. With utmost care, return to the refrigerator, holding the position :). I held my breath while doing it ;). Leave undisturbed for 4-6 hours until firm.

Part 2- Milk and Cream

Combine cream, milk and sugar and bring to a gentle boil, in low flame stirring until the sugar dissolves. Switch off.
Repeat the above step for melting gelatin.
Take out the 1tsp gelatin from the refrigerator and melt gently in another pan, in low and controlled flame. Stir in this to the above milk mixture along with vanilla.

Whisk gently while the mixture cools down. Take out the mango coulis glasses which are set well enough. Pour in the milk mixture carefully to fill the mango layer on top. Place them back to chill as such in standing position. Secure with cling wraps. Milk mix gets set within a couple of hours.
Serve chilled topped with mango slices and young mint leaves.




 Notes:

I haven't tried with agar agar. A 5-7 gm sheet should suffice for the above quantity. You need to divide it into equal portions and soak in warm-hot water. Melt on stove top bringing to gentle simmers, until it dissolves completely. Finally combine with the mango coulis and milk mixture, separately. Remember, you do it for both as different batches with an interval of 6 hours. If done in one go, it solidifies as it is.

Perfect panna cottas are softly firm or a bit wiggly rather than hard and firm.

I personally prefer it less sweet and so added minimum sugar.

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Maangai Oorugai / Mango Pickle

Well, this post is finally meant to do some justice to my blog's title after a while. Bakes, chocolatey cookies, muffins and Indian sweets had been dominating the space lately here as you could see.

Sample the pickle and you can judge the talent of the cook. Yeah! a good cook makes a perfect South Indian pickle, the one which doesn't turn stale for a longer time and tastes perfect throughout. I look upon my in laws as perfectionists when it comes to this art. The way they make pickles however make me feel I'm still in baby steps and got a long way to go!

I do try pickles which have already peeped in this blog and this one was made and sent over by my sis in law right after we got back home finishing our US visit this summer. The pickle was perfect for our everyday lunch while we finished off with lots of yogurt as the summer was still on.

I clicked a picture, last month when it was almost getting over, fast and today I called up my sis in law for the recipe as I sincerely felt should be a keeper!

This recipe  actually suits best for avakkai which is prepared in larger quantities, meant as an year long preserve with amazing shelf life but here she has substituted regular sour cut mangoes. The recipe is surprisingly simple as well!

Maangai Oorugai

Yields a small bottle

You need:

Sour variety raw mango cut into small cubes - A cup
Red chilly powder- 2 -3 tsps
Mustard seeds - A tspful
Garlic cloves- small- 5-6, minced
Sesame seed /gingelly oil / nallennai - 1/4 - 1/2 cup (almost half the measure of  mangoes)
Table salt- 1- 1 1/2 tsp, more or less or to taste (depends on the sourness of the mango)
*Fenugreek seeds / venthayam- 1/4 tsp

Method :

**Sundry mustard seeds spread on a flat tray, the previous day you intend to make the pickle. Powder in a mixie or hand pound as the quantity is less, the next day. Separate and remove the skin of the seeds using a bit of  wide netted sieve.

Now all you have to do is mix all the ingredients raw gently in a glass or ceramic bowl to combine. How much easier than a pickle can get? No heating of any ingredient, as simple as that! It would be dry just after you mix it but the water oozes out within a couple of days.

The pickle kept well for 2 whole months under refrigeration.

Author's Notes 


1. This recipe is meant originally for Aavakai Orugai as mentioned earlier and the cut mangoes are a substitution here.

2. Generally a kilogram of aavakkai is pickled. So naturally the amount of the other ingredients also shoot up accordingly. About half cup of mustard seeds are used, which are sun dried and powdered the following day. Sun drying is highly recommended for the seeds for such larger amounts of pickling.
** If you cannot  sundry, you can heat the seeds in a hot kadai (do not roast or fry) before powdering.

3. * Whole fenugreek seeds are used in the above recipe. For larger amounts of pickling, dry roast the seeds in a kadai until they turn dark red and powder which can be mixed along with the other ingredients.

4. Refrigerate the pickle stored in a glass jar / bottle for prolonged shelf life.

Looking forward to summer;  the season of mangoes and hoping to come up with the authentic Aavakkai Oorugai, soon! :)

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Kannimanga Achar / Tender Mango Pickle

Summer in Kerala... the season for Mulla poo(jasmine),Chakka (jack fruit)and Kannimanga(the young mangoes)..

I'm still enjoying my holidays in my native town down here in Kerala…the hot days filled with fun, loads of love and care…

V simply loves LOVES "Vadu manga oorugai".Me never an expert when it comes to making pickles, always “dread” to the utmost :).. decided to try making the same with the help of amma, blog, as I was sure it would be a great traditional keeper for you girls as well as for me and take my words it was so simple and never ever “dreadful “ as I felt until now…

So here’s the pickle packed with loads of love and care…

You need:

Sour variety Tender mangoes, as bunches-1 kg

Salt- 250gms

Water-Boiled well and cooled to room temp- 4 cups more or less(or the quantity to just immerse the mangoes)

Mustard seeds-50gms

Red chilly powder-4 heaped table spoons

Asafoetida powder/Perungaya podi-to flavour

Vinegar-optional(in case the magoes are less sour)-2 tbsp

Mustard seed oil- 2 tbsp

How to:

Wash the mangoes as bunches. Amma never let me separate them at this stage as she badly wanted to preserve the Chona (the milky sap)which started oozing out when I did it ;)

Now she came into the scene, washed them well, shook off excess water, placed them on a clean white dry cloth,wrapped up and patted dry. Now we together snipped the mangoes one by one and saw to it that every mango had at least a cm of its stalk along with. Then we stacked them into a clean and dry 2 ltr Bharani, the traditional earthen pot used for preserving pickles(see pic).

Add salt to the mangoes in the bharani. Shake well. Close with its lid and tie a white cloth around the neck.

Open the bharani on the 3^rd day, 4^rd ,6^th and 8^th days, shake to toss the mangoes or stir well with a clean, dry wooden ladle.The mangoes shrink as the water ooze out and lose the green colour to a pale yellow with aging.

Water has to boiled and cooled to room temperature. Has to be added on the 3rd or 4th day, after having a watch on the water oozed out with the addition of salt from the mangoes. The oozing out of the water stops as soon as the water is added and the mangoes wont get that "shrunk" look anymore. Adjust the quantity of water added so as to just 'immerse' the mangoes as it tends to bring down the shelf life.

On 8^th day(just after a week), heat mustard seeds in a dry kadai.Take care not to roast, but heat well. Turn off flame, remove the seeds and heat the chilly powder now. Stir continuously while you do the heating part of both. Take care not to burn the chilly powder as well. Add asafoetida and mix well.Powder the mustard seeds.

Stir in the powdered mustard seeds, chilly powder and asafoetida to the mangoes. Mix well.

The Preservatives:

Vinegar, as said above can be used if the mangoes are less sour.We avoided this as the mangoes were of good quality and secondly I feared V would complain about a “chemical flavour” in the pickle :)

Do not hesitate to stir in Mustard seed oil (heated and cooled to room temp) which imparts the real traditional taste and thickness to the Kanni manga Achar :)!!

Keep closed the bharani as earlier with the white piece of cloth, tied to the neck.Open and use whenever needed.

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Mango Yogurt Smoothie

We did have unexpected 'summer showers', quite comforting past week but the sun is back with all its vigour from today..

The Cocktail Lady hosting the 'Mixed Drinks' theme for MBP wants to blog the same, adapted from a fellow bloggers recipe:).....Sig, by hosting this particular event, you played wise here with lazy bugs like me who would preferably dig out something from the drafts to contribute to any event ;)..
I am extremely happy that I could step in the last moment since you’d liberally extended the deadline..:)

Well, I did have Ashaji’s Masala Chai on my mind for quite some time and discussed this with my sis and alas!.. she sent me pics mentioning she was all set to blog the same Chai as her second entry!..Now, all I was left with, were a few over-ripe mangoes in my fridge which made her point out a wonderful link the very next moment….

Thus, this Smoothie is adapted from Sailu’s recipe-Aam ki Lassi.

Surprisingly the mangoes with me seemed to be the same ‘Suvarnarekha’ variety she’d used for hers!..

Again, her combination of the drink proved to be just perfect and I followed blindly that yielded a soothing creamy drink for my children, esp for my daughter who helped me with the topmost picture here, and myself soon after the photography sessions :).

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Mango Icecream-An Indian Scream!..

I am virtually screaming for icecreams,not that I am an ice-cream lover,but the Indian summer invariably makes me do so!.

The next thing I am screaming for, is Mango.The Royal, Successful and the Most expensive, Imampasanth or Himampasanth, as it is named, is a very much sought after variety developed recently in one of the farms of T.N!!.The season is almost getting over and I am grabbing them, meticulously transforming them into curries, pickles, shakes and salads...

Finally, I came across the great event of Monthly Mingle in What's for Lunch for Honey , thought of why not try whipping up these creamy and tasty mango pieces to ice cream and go for a combined Scream..?..and, Meeta, this is definitely an untried venture as no one might have tried making fresh ice creams with Imampasanth, yet.The recipe is totally self made with a touch of creativity and the result; a humble success!.

Here comes the results from my Kitchen Laboratory..:)..

To make 3 large scoops;

I needed:

A cup of Imam or Himam Pasanth mango pulp(whip up pieces of half a mango)

A cup of thick creamy millk

A tbsp of flour(maida) blended without lumps in 1/3rd cup of milk in room temperature

3/4 cup of sugar

A tbsp of fresh cream

How I made:

1.Boil milk in a large pan,simmer for a few minutes to get rid of the water content in it and turn thicker.

2.Dissolve sugar and simmer for a few more minutes in low flame.

3.Now, add the maida plus milk mixture slowly,stirring all the time avoiding lumps and facilitate blending in.

4.Simmer again till you reach a thicker consistancy milk in the pan.

5.Cool till it attains room temperature.Mix in the mango pulp and beat the combined mixture in a blender.

6.Transfer contents to an icecream tray and set to freeze.

7.When half frozen,take out and whip again in a blender adding the fresh cream.This will again smoothen the lumps if you have had while boiling with maida milk mixture.

8.Transfer contents,to the same tray again and return to the freezer.

9.Freeze till it hardens.

10.Scoop them into ice-cream cups and enjoy the product without counting the calories :).Unlike other ice cream flavours, this has more tendency to turn pulpy if melts, therefore it is important to be served soon after taking out of the freezer.

P.S-I have not yet tried the recipe with other Mango varieties, but you can try them as well, if you are a mango or an icecream lover.

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Manga Pachadi / Mango Salad

Weird!..When I have a huge 15 year Mango Tree,laden with fresh green mangoes,right in my very own front yard,I almost 'squeezed' my brains out, thinking of an Indian vegetable which begins with the letter M.
So this is my contribution to Nupur's,A-Z Vegetables,for the Majestic and Mighty letter,M.

M is for Manga,Mangai or Mango.It is the peak season for Mangoes in South India,as the summer days are getting longer and hotter!.
So folks, here's a simple 'n' cool Kerala recipe of Mango Pachadi or Salad, to beat the heat.

Serves-4 ; Cooking time-15 minutes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup freshly grated green mango-the mango should have more of sweetness in it and lightly sour.
1/4 cup finely minced shallots or big onions.
1/2 tsp minced green chillies.
1/4 tsp minced ginger.
3/4 cup fresh,thick and creamy coconut milk,extracted from 3 cups of grated coconuts.
1 tbsp coconut oil-to temper.
1/4 tsp mustards.
1/2 tsp urad dal.
A pinch of fenugreek seeds/uluva/venthaiyam.
A stalk of curry leaves.
A single red chilly-broken to 2 pieces.
Salt-to taste.
2 pinches of sugar-to regulate the taste.
1/2 tsp of mustards,coarsely crushed.

Method:

1. Combine the grated mango,shallots,green chillies and ginger.Add the coconut milk.
2. Heat oil and temper with mustards,urad dal,fenugreek seeds,curry leaves and redchilly respectively.Add to the above mixture when cooled.Add the crushed mustards,(I had used them as a topping) salt and sugar.Mix well.
3. Serves well with Hot Lunch.

The 15 year old mango tree in my front yard.

P.S-Grated carrots can also be added to make the Mango-Carrot Pachadi.
Please note that this dish contains coconut milk and not yoghurt as in the other pachadis.

Recipe Source-Nadan Pachakarama by Mrs.K.M Mathew.

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