Methamba - Raw Mango Jaggery Relish

Remember I mentioned in the Andhra Raw Mango Dal recipe that I’d used the second raw mango for another dish. Well, secret’s out! I made Methamba from Saee Koranne Khandekar’s book, Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens. I bought this book on Kindle. This is the first recipe tried by me from the book and I have highlighted so many that I want to try. A major clarification: The recipe belongs to Saee and I have no copy right over it. I merely recreated this fabulous recipe in my kitchen.

As mentioned by Saee in the book, Methamba definitely falls under the relish category rather than the pickle  category. I had it with two things, namely, dal rice (Indrayani rice) and Prawn Khichdee. As Saee recommends in the book, I also gave it a try with some plain hot rice and ghee (clarified butter). That was heaven, sheer heaven! If raw mangoes are still available in your vicinity, give this recipe a try immediately.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw mango, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ cup jaggery, grated

3 tablespoons oil

3 dried red Byadgi chilies, broken into small pieces

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds (I used black mustard seeds)

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

1¼ teaspoon salt

Method:

1.    Heat oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, broken red chilies, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Sauté until fragrant.

2.    Add the chopped mango and toss well to mix with the spice-mix.

3.    Add the salt and red chili powder and mix well.

4.    COVER the saucepan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until the mango pieces turn translucent.

5.    Add the jaggery and cook UNCOVERED (ON LOW HEAT) until the jaggery melts and the relish comes together in a nice even sticky form.

6.    Remove from fire and allow the relish to cool and then transfer into sterilized glass or ceramic jars.

7.    Can be stored in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

Chef Notes & The Tiny Changes I Made:

1.    Instead of roughly chopping the mangoes, I preferred to dice then evenly – blame it on my frikkin’ OCD. *sheepish look*

2.    I used nearly 1 cup jaggery as the mango was extremely sour. Please taste as you cook and adjust the jaggery as suits your palate.

3.    While broke one chili into small pieces, I chose to break the remaining two into halves as mum cannot handle very spicy food and breaking the chilies into small pieces would mean she would encounter chilies in each bite. Also, I deseeded the dry red chilies to lessen their spice quotient. Please feel free to do that if you need to. Rest assured; the recipe works just as beautifully when you do so.

4.    The relish lasts for 4 to 6 weeks in the fridge, says the recipe. You can forget about it lasting that long coz if you are anything like me, you will polish this off within a week, max! *greedy-evil grin*

5.    As Saee rightly recommends, please, please do, give the Methamba a try with soft steamed rice and a dollop of clarified butter (ghee). In her exact words, I quote, “But once you try mixing it into some hot rice with a spoonful of ghee, we’ll talk.” As I said earlier... sheer heaven!

6.    As most food groups at Facebook have a ‘no link’ policy, I haven’t posted a link to Saee book, Pangat, at the FB groups. If you wish to access the link, please do so directly from my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. It’s a book you will not regret picking up.

7.    As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs solely to Saee Koranne Khandekar and her book, Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens. This version of the recipe and the photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

(Book photograph courtesy Amazon India)

Link for Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens
Click HERE for the PAPERBACK EDITION

Link for Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens
Click HERE for the KINDLE EDITION

Some more photographs:

Raw Mango Dal Andhra Style - Mamidikaya Pappu

I had eaten this dal, for the first time, sometime last year. A very dear friend had sent it over; mum and I could not stop raving about it. I wanted to recreate it but, alas, I waited too long (procrastinator me) and by the time I decided to get down to it, mango season had ended. I could not source raw mangoes hence shelved the cooking project. This year I decided I would not procrastinate. Some time, last week, I laid my greedy paws on 2 huge (half kilo) raw mangoes. I knew exactly what I was going to cook with these babies. While I used one mango for this recipe, you’re going to have to wait a few days for me to tell you what I did with the other one. *Oh, what the hell, a little bit of suspense is  good thing* 😊

Ingredients:

1 cup tur dal (pigeon pea lentil), soaked for 2 to 3 hours

1 large raw mango (approx. 225-250 grams in size), peeled and cut into big cubes

10 cloves garlic, chopped

5 green chilies, finely chopped or cut into 1-inch pieces

12 curry leaves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

10 -12 fenugreek seeds (methi dana)

1/3 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

2 large onions, chopped

3/4^th – 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4^th teaspoon red Deghi Mirch or Kashmiri chili powder

Salt, to taste

A handful coriander leaves, washed, and chopped

6 to 7 tablespoons oil or as required

Tadka: (Optional)

4 tablespoons clarified butter (pure ghee)

5 curry leaves

1/4^th teaspoon red Deghi Mirch or Kashmiri chili powder

2 dry red Kashmiri chilies, halved, deseeded

Method:

1.    Rinse the soaked dal in water, two to three times or until water runs clear. Leave aside.

2.    In a pressure cooker heat oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, 12 curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and allow to splutter (but do not allow to burn).

3.    Add onions, green chilies, garlic, and sauté until onion sweat and turn translucent. Do not allow them to turn colour.

   4.    Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and sauté for a few seconds. 

5.    Add the raw mangoes (seed included), rinsed tur dal, salt and approximately 3½  to 4 cups water.

6.    Pressure cook the dal for two whistles. Then, lower flame and allow pressure to build up for one more whistle and shut off the stove. Allow the pressure to release by itself. Empty the dal into a vessel. Give a light stir so as to smoothen out about 80-90 percent of the dal. Allow a wee bit of the dal to retain its shape.

7.    Put the dal back on low heat, add coriander leaves and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

8.    Optional: Heat clarified butter in a separate pan. Add 5 curry leaves, Deghi Mirch or Kashmiri chili powder and broken dry red Kashmiri chilies. When the leaves and chilies begin to crackle take the vessel off the heat and pour the tadka over the dal. Serve with rice (Basmati or soft ghee-laden Indrayani rice would be my choice), or pair it with vegetables and chapatis.

Chef Notes: 

1. The original version of this dal does not have tadka. I love a ghee tadka with dal, hence gave it a tadka twist; precisely why I have written ‘Optional’ for ‘Tadka’. According to the original recipe, as made by Andhra-ites, once you add the coriander leaves and simmer for a few minutes, the dal is ready to be served. 
2. The consistency of this dal is entirely up to you. I served a thick-ish dal with soft Indrayani rice.
3. There is another way to cook this wherein the dal and mangoes are cooked separately and then mixed together. I chose not to go the long route and opted for this short method instead.
4. The quantity of mango added to the dal will depend entirely on how sour the mango is and also on how tangy you prefer the dal to be. The mango I used was pretty sour, but I used a whole mango as we like tangy dals and also because I had planned to pair it with rice which would dilute the tanginess to a certain extent. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   Some more photographs:
   
   
   

Sticky Mango Rice – Khao Neow Mamuang Lat Kati

I have been meaning to make this for ever so long and I finally got around to whipping it up this mango season. This recipe is a combination of Kay Plunkett-Hogge and Marion Grasby’s recipe for Sticky Mango Rice. I used Jasmine Rice for this recipe but if you can lay your paws on Sticky (Glutinous) Rice go with that. I cannot help but emphasize, as have the authors of the recipe, please make it with ripe mangoes of very good quality or it isn’t worth the effort.

Ingredients:

125 grams raw Sticky rice (or Jasmine rice)

250 – 300 mils coconut milk (I use Kara or Dabur cartons)

60 grams (1/3^rd cup) palm sugar or castor sugar or regular sugar

A big pinch of salt

2 – 3 ripe mangoes, peeled and chopped into pieces or sliced

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

For Use:

A steamer or a steamer basket or a makeshift vessel colander steamer

A 15-inch by 15-inch muslin cloth (or cheesecloth)

Method:

1.    Soak the Jasmine rice in water for 3 hours.

2.    After 3 hours, drain and rinse the rice in fresh water.

3.    Bring water to boil in the base of a steamer/vessel. When the water gets to a roaring boil, lower heat, put the top colander-like section over it.

4.    Put the muslin cloth on the colander section and spread out the rice in an even layer. Fold the cloth over the rice, cover with a lid.

5.    Increase the flame to high and steam the rice for 20 minutes.

6.    Check the rice at the 20-minute mark and if it isn’t cooked to sticky texture, continue cooking (covered) for 8 to 10 minutes more, or until desired texture is achieved.

7.    While the rice is cooking, toast the sesame seeds on low flame. When the colour of the sesame seeds get to a light toasty colour and a nutty aroma reaches your olfactory senses, remove the sesame seeds into a plate. Keep aside and allow to cool.

8.    On very low heat, stirring all the time, heat coconut milk, sugar and salt in a stainless-steel vessel or a non-stick pan. When the sugar melts and the milk is heated through, remove from fire, and keep aside.

9.    Remove the warm cooked rice from the muslin cloth, retain approximately 50 mil of the coconut milk mixture and pour the rest into the rice.

10. Give it a stir to ensure the coconut milk is well incorporated into the rice. Cover and keep aside giving the rice time to absorb the coconut milk completely.  

To Serve:

Divide the rice into four or five equal portions, top (or serve alongside) with chopped/sliced mangoes. Drizzle the remaining coconut milk over each portion and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds. Serve!

Chef Notes:

1.    While I do have a steamer at home, it is a huge one hence did not bother with it. I chose to use a makeshift steamer with a vessel below with a colander above it. QED! 😉

2.    125 grams of raw rice will usually yield 250 grams of cooked rice which is an ideal quantity for dessert, for 4 (or max 5) people.

3.    The number of mangoes you choose to serve, with the rice, is entirely up to you. We used 3 Kesar mangoes because we were greedy, ideally 2 would have sufficed. *giggles*

4.    I did not have palm or castor sugar which is why I opted for regular sugar and it worked beautifully so don’t get too hassled if you don’t have palm or castor sugar in your pantry.

5.    I also know friends who cook this recipe with Maharashtrian Ambemohar Rice. The aroma of mango blossoms that emits from this rice and its flexibility to be cooked to sticky texture, make it a perfect substitute for Sticky Rice. If you choose to use Ambemohar, cook the rice as you would normally do but to a sticky texture. Follow the rest of recipe as written. Btw, I also have friends who swear Indrayani rice works as well. I haven’t tried it tough.

6.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: