Mango Pickle

I know it sounds strange but I do not like pickles, the hot and spicy Indian kind. The cut mango pickle is the only exception. My friend and I would go their terrace and pluck raw mangoes from their neighbor's mature tree. A few we would bite into as we chatted under the shade of the tree on hot Summer afternoons in Chennai and a save off a few for her mom to make this pickle. The last time I went to India, the trees were no longer there, but her mom remembered my favorite pickle and made it for me. Now that I think about it, all my friend's mothers made this pickle when they invited me over including my sister-in-law's parents. Does that tell you anything about how crazy I must be for this recipe?

It's a traditional TamBram recipe as always, I add less chilli powder and spice, so it's more like mango curry than a pickle. Anyways it's always gone in a day, so why bother to preserve it by adding tons of oil, salt and chilli powder.

Ingredients

1 Whole raw mango, make sure it's not sweet. Sour the better.
Salt to taste
2 tsp Chilli power or more
1 tsp Turmeric powder
Pinch of Hing

Takda

2 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds

Method

1. Chop the mango into small cubes or cuboids
2. Add salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder on top just like the picture above.
3. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. Wait until the seeds pop.
4. Add the hing powder and turn off the flame.
5. Pour the tadka over the cut mangoes and mix it.

I can eat this with any thing from dosas, to idlis, rotis and rice.