When Courtenay at Running with Perseverance  asked for mango recipes, I knew I had to dwell in to some of my favorite Indian ones. While it might be a tad exotic for my US friends, I grew up loving the sweetness and the savory of mango with Indian flavours.

We had a mango tree in our backyard which mum used for raw mango recipes. As kids, we were very disappointed that we couldn’t eat these mangoes (well you could, but I had a sweet tooth rather than tangy). But summer vacations at my grandparents meant mangoes all.day.long. When we visited India this past summer, I was absolutely thrilled that my girls shared the same rougish love for mangoes that I had. And by the time we left, they were quite adept in eating mangoes all by themselves, with no help and minimal mess

Mango Rice – South Indian Style

This is a very popular dish prepared during my new year (Ugadi). Made from raw mangoes, spices and sometimes peanuts/cashewnuts, this provides the perfect blend of spice and tangy enough to make you smack your lips. Literally.

To prepare this rice, you will need

• Cooked rice (I use white Basmati, but my mom back home uses medium grained raw rice as it blends better than Basmati)
• Grated raw mango
• Peanuts/Cashews (optional)
• Red Chillies
• Curry Leaves (nothing to do with the Indian “curry”)
• Mustard Seeds
• Split Chickpeas
• Turmeric
• Cilantro leaves – finely chopped

(All these ingredients can be bought in an Indian store. If you can’t find it, no worries, you can make do without it)

Method

1. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and wait still they crackle.
2. Add the split chickpeas, curry leaves, red chillies and peanuts.
3. When peanuts are done, add grated mango along with desired salt and fry until the raw smell is gone/mango is cooked.
4. Add rice and mix. Garnish with cut cilantro.

Mango Chutney – South Indian Style

There are plenty of styles of preparing Mango Chutney. My mom makes it this particular way as fast but easy way and one that has a longer shelf life than a chutney. I must warn you though – I like it spicy and use it as a condiment/dip with rice, roti (Indian bread), bread, etc.

Ingredients

• Grated Raw Mango
• Mustard seeds
• Chilli powder
• pinch of turmeric

Method

1.  Heat a little oil in a pan.
2. Add mustard seeds and when they crackle, add grated mango, chilli powder and turmeric.
3. Fry in flow-medium flame until the oil separates.
   Store this in a container for upto a month.

And now for some of my favorite mango sweet dishes!!

Mango Dip – South Indian Style

Called Seekarne (pronounced see-car-nay), this dip was made when we had so many ripe mangoes that we couldn’t eat them all. Again, it could be used with anything as a dip. Or – grab a spoon and eat it like icecream without the cream!

Ingredients

• Overripe mangoes (the sweeter the better)
• Sugar or sweetener (if needed. Growing up, we never needed extra added sugar with our mangoes.)
•  Cardamom powder (optional for flavoring)

Method

1. Cut mangoes into a big bowl and mash them with your hand/potato masher. Don’t worry about the lumps, they give the dip some character. (Some recipes use a banana with this. I like to keep my fruits separate and skip it)
2. Mix the cardamom powder and sugar (if needed).

Sounds simple right?
It is simple, but oh so tasty with sweet overripe mangoes. My grandfather used to make this every summer when I went to their house. He would buy overripe manges at a discount at the market and make this for the family while my grandmother would cook something to eat with the dip. The type of mango he used to make this was never available in the city we lived in, so this was a treat for me and I’d indulge in it with a spoon in a large bowl. 🙂

Mango Lassi

How can I leave this classic Indian drink out?

All you need for this is mango cut/pulp, sugar/sweetener if needed, yogurt and cardamom powder. Blend it all together and enjoy the drink!

 

What are your favorite Mango dishes that are different from the mainstream uses of Mango?
Indian readers, share some of your dishes and remind me of the awesomeness of this fruit!