Manga pachadi
Manga pachadi reminds me of my amma & my appa. Every tamil new year’s amma would make this manga veppampoo pachadi (raw mango/ neem flower jaggery based sweet) which both my appa and I loved a lot. My dad was a chronic diabetic but he was also a thorough foodie. He always happily ate food he shouldn’t eat and I seem to have definitely taken on that trait from him. My love for food comes from my appa and my sense of appreciating good food whoever makes it also comes from my appa. These are all simple dishes but I have never bothered to learn them from my amma nor my other amma aka mil. I am at the phase in my life where I am appreciating our traditional food more than ever before and the want to learn these are increasingly growing. I finally also learnt to make mor kali just the way amma makes it (will update the blog soon) and also learnt to make ragi kali/ koozh. Anyways, not steering away from the manga pachadi, clearly love it and finally learnt it. I let the mango cook a little more than what’s needed for the recipe and so, the pulp left the skin and mixed completely with the jaggery and I absolutely seemed to love the mistake I did cos god, it tasted like ‘naturo’ but with some desi tempering & the undercutting spice when you take each bite because of the chilli. I am blogging this at the end of mango season I know but in case you happen to get some raw mango on hand, try this out!
On a personal front, Tasha (my niece) came home for lunch after 4 months and it felt so nice to have both Adya & Tash yap around and play. Both their vacations have begun and I am hoping for these 2 to spend more time together. Also a side note on personal front, Adya still doesn’t get to pronounce ‘K’ properly in words starting with that syllable. Some of the funny things he says now are thithu aka kirukku aka mad uno (basically uno which goes totally by his rules), thuthi aka kutti aka small, tholaveri aka kolaveri based on a tamil song. He also does this really cute thing when I am engrossed at work and he wants to distract me. He takes a piece of paper with his kirukkals aka Adya’s art work.. sly-ah places to next to me and goes 2 feet away from me, folds his hands, hang his head down and adorns a paavam (innocent) face and waits for me to see the drawing as well as notice him. If I don’t actually notice him being around, he will give me a shout out and tell me he has a gift for me and will continue to fold hands/ hang face down/ inno face on. I cannot begin to describe how cute that looks. I truly wish I could capture it in a video. I love him doing that and I set aside my laptop and cuddle him for a few minutes and that’s literally all what he wants & does this whole play I realise. Of course, I also need to appreciate the so called mega art work of his but hey I am the mom and anything he does is aboorvam/ amazing to me :). This part of the blog is more for me when I read these years later :D.
My thithu (kirukku/ mad) fellow with his thiruthals (kirukkals) 
My cuties chilling after what feels like ages!
- 1 medium raw mango/ green mango
- 1 cup jaggery
- 1/8 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
- 2 nos green chillies
- a pinch salt
- 1 tbsp rice flour
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
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Prep work – chop mango into pieces/ cubes. Slit green chilli lengthwise. Break jaggery into pieces.
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In a heavy bottom, deep vessel, add cut mango pieces, green chilli, a pinch of salt & 1/4c water.
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Heat on medium flame till mango's colour changes (roughly 5-7 minutes or till the mangoes are 75% cooked). You can close the lid initially for the first 2-3 minutes and remove it after that so that the water evaporates while the mangoes cook.
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Add jaggery and let the jaggery melt on low flame.
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Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
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Add nutmeg & cardamom powder. Mix.
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Mix rice flour in 2T water. Add to the pachadi mixture.
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Give it a mix and let the pachadi come to a boil.
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Turn off heat.
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On the side, make a tempering using 1t ghee & 1/2t mustard seeds.
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Pour this on top of the pachadi. Mix.
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Serve warm!
- If the raw mango is less sour, then you can add less jaggery. Ours was super tart. So needed 1 cup jaggery.
Stepwise pictures
Break jaggery into pieces. 
In a heavy bottom, deep vessel, add cut mango pieces, green chilli, a pinch of salt & 1/4c water. 
Heat on medium flame till mango’s colour changes (roughly 5-7 minutes). 
You can close the lid initially for the first 2-3 minutes and remove it after that so that the water evaporates while the mangoes cook. 
Add jaggery and let the jaggery melt on low flame. 
Allow the mixture to come to a boil. 
Add nutmeg & cardamom powder. Mix. 
Mix rice flour in 2T water. Add to the pachadi mixture. 
Give it a mix and let the pachadi come to a boil. Turn off heat. 
On the side, make a tempering using 1t ghee & 1/2t mustard seeds. Pour this on top of the pachadi. Mix. 
Serve warm!
