Manga thokku/ raw mango pickle

Hello people. My mother in law was making some manga thokku/ raw mango pickle and since the colour was gorgeous I just took a few photos of it & put it on instagram just for kicks. Interestingly, I had a few friends who did not care about anything else I had posted on insta that day but had eyes only for this :D. I do not blame them. I probably would have done the same thing too. Pickle lovers are pickle lovers no matter what. Infact I have a friend Akhila (a colleague of mine) with whom I regularly exchange pickles. When she makes pickles she will surely give me some & vice-versa. Infact, if we were not in the whole stay at home situation, some of this pickle would’ve been parcelled off to her :). Now, since I did not prepare myself to take step by step pics nor stand next to her bugging her to use standard cups & measurement sizes, she used her standard measurements (azhakku.. for those of you who understand that). So she has converted her azhakku measurements here to the standard measurements that I understand 😀 and I have jotted it down here. She was grating these mangoes for a longggg time. So those of you who want to give it a try, maybe start with 2 mangoes & just cut them up in chunks & pulse them in a mixer/ blender (I’ve mentioned it down in the notes). I surely would’ve done this & maybe I will ask her to let me make this pickle now that I actually have it on blog :D. Thank you Akhila & Arvind (aah, mentioning 2 Akhilas in one post :)) for pushing me to do this! Appreciate it. If you do make this, let me know.

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Mango Thokku

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

20 mins

 

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 500 gms

Ingredients

• 6 big raw mangoes
• 1/3 cup rock salt
• 1/3 cup red chilli powder
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbsp asafoetida
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 cup gingelly oil

Instructions

1. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in a small pan (or the same pan in which you will be making the pickle). Set it aside in a small plate & once it cools down, coarsely grind it using a mortal/ pestle.

2. Wash, dry and grate mango (the biggest task in this pickle process). Look at notes for more inputs on this.

3. Heat the same heavy bottom vessel with 2 tbsp gingelly oil.

4. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Add turmeric powder.

5. Now add grated mango and saute for 5 mins.

6. Add salt & continue to saute.

7. The mango mixture will start bubbling and the water content in it will reduce. Keep stirring & ensure not to burn the mixture.

8. After 3-5 minutes (or when the mixture starts to stick to the bottom of the pan), pour in half of the remaining oil.

9. Continue to saute for 2 minutes & add the remainder oil.

10. Along with this add fenugreek powder, asafoetida & red chilli powder.

11. Saute for another 3-5 minutes. The mixture (now turning pickle) will bubble up & the oil will start separating on the sides. Turn off the heat at this stage.

12. However, if you feel the mixture is dry & sticking to the bottom at this stage, add a little more oil & saute for 2 minutes and then turn off the heat.

13. Allow the pickle to completely cool down (very important step in preservation process).

14. Store in an airtight container (preferably glass).

15. Your mango thokku/ pickle is ready to be devoured as is, alongside curd rice, rotis & whatever else it is that you want spread it on :).

Recipe Notes

1. The parts that you can’t grate, pulse them in a mixer/ blender. 
2. Or if you are lazy like me, chop the mangoes in big chunks and pulse them all in a mixer :). 
3. Our pickle was done on the largest burner on its lowest flame. 
4. Depending on the level of sourness in the raw mangoes you are pickling with, you may have to add/ reduce the salt and red chilli powder. The mangoes we used were not very sour.