Raw mango and Carrot Pickle

All of us are familiar with Kadumanga or raw mango pickle. Here is an equally tasty and spicy version of a mango pickle where carrots are also added to it. You wont be able to sense any difference in flavour and at the same time it gives a nice crunch to your pickle. This also balances the sourness of the pickle if the mangoes you are using is too sour.

Ingredients

1 cup carrot, chopped into small pieces
1 cup raw mangoes, skin peeled and chopped.
4 small green chillies, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2” piece ginger, chopped
A pinch of ground fenugreek
A pinch of asafetida
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp mustard seeds
1/4 cup vinegar (optional)
3 tbsp oil
1 sprig of curry leaves

Method

Heat oil in a pan, and splutter mustard seeds. Then fry garlic cloves, ginger, green chillies, and curry leaves. Now lower the flame, and add ground turmeric, asafetida, and ground fenugreek.

Add in veggies, first carrot and then mangoes. Mix thoroughly. Pour vinegar and mix again. Add enough salt, and remove the pickle from flame. Make sure the veggies remain crunchy.

Once cooled, transfer the pickle to a sterilized jar. The pickle will be ready to eat by next day.  But once opened, don’t forget to store it in the refrigerator.

Mango Strawberry Smoothie

I love smoothies. One tall glass of smoothie and a good movie to watch is a perfect combination for a lazy afternoon. Since a smoothie is thicker than a milk shake, finishing it takes much longer and you can slowly relish each sip.

Ingredients

1/2 cup strawberry sliced
1/2 cup mango sliced
1 Cup Yogurt
4 ice cubes
1 tabkespoon Sugar

Directions

In blender, combine strawberries, mangoes, yogurt, sugar and ice and blend until mixture is smooth and frothy. Pour into 2 tall glasses. Serve with straws, if you like.

Mango pie with Cream and Honey

A fruit tart is a very easy dessert recipe and I try it with all the fruits that I could get my hands on to. Here is another tasty tart recipe made with the queen of fruits, mangoes.

Ingredients

1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup  cream
2 tbsp butter+ cardamom mix
2 large mangoes, peeled
Honey- 2 tbsp

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry sheet on a greased baking sheet, then turn over (to prevent creases from splitting during baking). Trim edges with a sharp knife. Brush pastry lightly with egg (do not allow to drip down sides).  Prick inner rectangle evenly with a fork, then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake in lower third of oven 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a rack and allow it to cool.
Thinly slice mangoes  with a sharp knife. Apply butter+ cardamom mixture on the puff pastry and assemble mangoes on top. Bake again for just 1 minute.( Optional. I did it just to let it set) Garnish with cream and honey.

Mambazha Kaalan

It is a traditional sweet and sour dish of my home state, Kerala. The mangoes give it a sweet flavour while the curd gives it its sourness. The mangoes are cooked in a coconut and yogurt gravy. It is a highly nostalgic dish which makes me truly homesick. Some people dont add chilly powder. But I prefer it to be a bit spicy as well.

Ingredients

Ripe mango - 3 sliced
Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
Pepper powder - 1/2 tea sp
Green chilli - 3-4
Salt
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 pinch
Chilli powder - 1/2 tea sp
Fenugreek - 1/2 tea sp
Coconut oil - 1 table spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea sp
Dried red chilli - 2 or 3
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Sour curd/ Yogurt- 1 cup

Method

Wash mangoes and peel the skin. Squeeze juice from the skin into a pan. Discard the skin. To the sliced manhoe,  add 1 cup water, 1/2 tea sp turmeric powder, pepper powder, chilli powder and split green chillis and cook. Towards the end add a little salt.
Grind the coconut to a fine paste with cumin seeds and 1/2 tea sp turmeric powder.
Heat oil in a small pan and fry the fenugreek seeds. Drain and grind this in a mortar.
Beat the curd
Add the coconut paste to the mango and cook on a low flame. When it starts frothing add the curd and heat again for a minute stirring continuously. Do not let it boil. Remove from fire, add fenugreek powder and stir again for 2-3 minutes. Check for salt and add more if needed.
Heat the oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add whole red chillis and curry leaves and fry. Pour this into the curry.

Mango Cheese Cake

This is the ultimate dessert recipe for everyone with a sweet tooth. Easy melt-in-the-mouth dish that brings sheer ecstacy to everyone who tries it out. The same can be made with strawberries or blueberries or any other fruit but there is nothing that can outsmart the sweetness of a ripe juicy mango. Enjoy.

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/2 cups digestive biscuit crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling
3 large very ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, coarsely chopped
3 packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
Sliced peeled pitted mangoes

Direction

For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a  pan. Stir biscuit crumbs and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake until crust is set, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Puree mangoes in processor until smooth. Set aside 2 cups mango puree. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 2 cups mango puree and beat until well blended. Pour filling over crust in pan.

Bake cake until set and puffed and golden around edges (center may move very slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour 25 minutes. Cool cake 1 hour. Refrigerate uncovered overnight. (You can also pour some slightly boiled mango puree over the filling after it is baked  and beforekeeping keeping it in the fridge overnight. I did it.) Run small knife between cake and sides of pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Transfer cake to platter. Cut into wedges and serve with sliced mangoes.

Mambazha Pulissery(Ripe Mango curry)

This one is an authentic and traditional Kerala dish and an integral part of our kerala sadya. The mere mention of its name is sure to bring nostalgia in the hearts of all keralites. The perfect blending of sweet and sour taste creates ecstacy to our taste buds when eaten with hot matta rice. I prefer less curd in my curry inorder to get the taste of coconut more but that is entirely your preference. In whichever way, it still tastes awesome.

Ingredients

Ripe mangoes  big oned : 3 nos
Turmeric powder : ½ tsp
Red chilli powder : 1 tsp
Scraped coconut : 1/2 coconut
Cumin : 1 tsp
Thick curd, a little sour (beaten) : 1 glass(I prefer to add less curd)
Fenugreek powder : 1 tsp
Coconut oil : 1 tbsp
Mustard : 1 tsp
Dry red chillies (cut into 2) : 2
Curry leaves : 10-12
Salt : to taste

Direction

In a cup of water cook the ripe mangoes, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Using a mixer, grind the coconut and cumin into a fine paste.
Add the above paste to the mangoes when they begin to cook.
When the coconut and mangoes have cooked evenly, add the beaten curd.
Cook for a very short time  and remove it from the stove.
Allow it to cool lightly and then sprinkle the fenugreek powder over it.
In a pan heat the oil add the curry leaves, mustard, dry red chillies and stir to fry them.
Top the mango curry with the stir fried mix .

Mango Cantaloupe Smoothie

2 ice cubes (crush in blender first)
1 cup of peeled and chopped cantaloupe
1 cup of peeled and chopped frozen mango
1/2 cup frozen milk
Sweetened yoghurt - 2 tablespoon
1/2 cup mango nectar (or juice)
1 to 2 tsp honey
A drop of vanilla essence

Mix everything together in a blender and serve.