My mother is called as ‘pickle specialist’ by all our relatives. She makes the best pickles I have ever had. The authentic Konkani mango pickle is prepared using the tiny mangoes called as ‘appi ambli’ (ambli – raw mango). It has a long procedure and I am not sure I would make it any time in my life. She uses very very less amount of oil, no artificial preservatives and the pickle remains good for 3-4 years!!!.
‘Karmbi nonche’ is the easiest pickle among all different pickles she makes. The raw mango is cut into bite size pieces and suffiecient amount of salt is added to it. After 1-2 days, the mango pieces absorb the salt, this stage of mago is called as ‘karmbi’ and the whole process is called as ‘karmbuche’. When we were kids, we used to finish the mango pieces before the masala was added to make the pickle :). Ahh..I still remember that taste.
The distinguishing taste of my mother’s pickles comes from generous amount of Hingu(asafoetida). The hing/hingu that we get at our native has very strong aroma compared to the ones we usually get in other places. Authentic recipe calls for ‘Til oil’(sesame oil) in this recipe. But I used vegetable oil and still the taste was superb. Asafoetida granules are better compared to the powder, but if they are not available, use the powder.
This pickle is ready to eat as soon as it is prepared. But usually it tastes better from the next day. This pickle is not very long lasting, because the mangoes loose the crunchiness after few days. So finish it within 15days.
Ingredients: Raw mangoes 2 Salt 1/2 cup Mustard seeds 2 tea spns Methi(Fenugreek) seeds 1/2 tea spn Oil 1 tea spn Asafoetida powder 1/4 tea spn or Asafoetida granules(big sized) 2 Chilli powder 2 tea spns
Method: Wipe the mangoes with clean cloth to remove any traces of water. Cut them into bite size pieces and add salt. Keep aside for 1-2 days. Heat oil and fry mustard, methi seeds and asafoetida. When they start popping, remove from heat and grind them (there should not be any traces of water in any of the vessels used to make pickle. Water spoils the pickle soon). Add the ground masala and chilli powder to mangoes and mix well. The first day this pickle should taste a bit salty, if less salt is added, pickle gets spoiled soon. Store in air tight container.
Preparation time : 30mins
Sonali tagged me for this meme. I felt this meme is very unfair!!!. Only 10 things??? How do I pick up 10 things, there are hundreds of them :). I miss each and every dish that my mom makes. I wish I was in India, I could have run to her whenever I wanted :(.
- Pathrode and ankre tamboli – This is the best combination I have ever had. I am a big fan of this combination from the time I was a kid. Its a must whenever I go to visit my parents at my native. Since we have a big garden, we find all the ingredients easily.
- Pickles – There are atleast 10 types of pickles I can remember. Few of them are the traditional mango pickle using tiny mengoes(appi ambli nonche), diced mango pickle (HinDi), ready to eat mango pickle ( karmbi nonche ), cauliflower-carrot pickle( flowera nonche ), lemon pickles(with and without masala), bitter gourd pickle(karathe nonche) , Chilli pickle , cooked and mashed gooseberry pickle (avale hindi) etc etc.
- Masala dosa – There are two types of bhajis that I love the most. Amma’s bhaji (fondly named after my grand mother), my grand mother was an expert in making this. Now my mom makes it exactly same as her. This is the BEST bhaji I have ever had. I could literally eat 2-3 dosas more than my limit :). The second is Pattal bhaji which we call as Aayi’s bhaji to just distinguish between the two. Though both bhajis have the exact same ingredients, there is an amazing difference between the taste and both are SUPERB :).
- Pani puri – I still wonder where my grandmother learnt this. She prepared the best pani puri. Since I come from a very small village, there would not have been any chance of tasting this chaat at my place. But my grandmom and then my mom always knew about my cravings of this chaat. So they prepared it whenever I asked for. Unlike the pani puris that we get in bigger places like Belgaum, Bangalore, this home made pani puri had sprouted moong stuffing.
- Kolmbo and Jeer-meerya kadhi – I am a big fan of Kolmbo from my childhood. My mom used to ask me “what do you want for lunch/dinner?”(because I always created a lot of fuss about eating my food!!! I was a bad kid when it comes to eating). My stapled answer would be ‘Kolmbo’, all others at home had got bored of eating Kolmbo. Since I would eat quietly when my mom prepared kolmbo, they all would tolerate it somehow. But after sometime, all used to protest and vote against Kolmbo!!!. Once my grandfather, who was irritated because of this, told my mom to “prepare kolmbo and dry it in sun. whenever she asks, dilute it in water and give her!!!” that clearly says how they all were fed up of this dish :D. Of late I have picked up the taste of Jeer-meerya kadhi. This, rice and pickle, what else anyone needs in life??
- Crab gravy(kurle ambat) – I was always the ‘Kurle’ kid at home. Even the person who catches the crab knows about it. Because whenever I go home, he brings a bucket full of crabs!!!. I learnt cleaning of crabs at an early age. I would tell my mom, ‘I will clean it for you. You just make the curry’ and she always agreed happily. Isn’t that a good idea? she felt, my kid is taking so much of troble, so let me make the gravy :D.
- Mumbri and smoked eggplant(vayngana bajji) – Mumbri is one kind of rice flour rotti(akki rotti), prepared by spreading the rice flour batter on banana leaf and then frying it on tava. From the time I came here, I am searching for banana leaves so that I could make this dish. This combined with the smoked eggplant is a amazing breakfast. This one is not liked by everyone, but once you like it, you can eat it continuously. My mom used to make the mumbri and my father helped her in making the smoked eggplant.
- Chicken gravy – This is the traditional chicken curry with lot of masalas and lots of coconut. It has an amazing taste and an amazing smell. The entire house would smell of this even after 2-3 days!!!. Since I have stopped eating chicken now, I dont think I would taste it again. May be next gime I will tell her to make it with eggs or potatoes :D.
- Kalva ambat – ‘Kalva’ is a kind of sea food found in the big rocks near sea shore. These are similar to shell fishes but have a different taste. Once my mom had to go to meet my grandmother and I was alone at home with my father. I din’t know a thing about cooking then. My father prepared ‘kalva ambat’ and that is the best ever ‘kalva ambat’ I have ever had in my life. I still can feel the taste on the tip of my tongue. My mom gets annoyed when I tell her Pappa’s Kalva ambat is the best :D.
- Biscuit pudding – This is my Pachi’s dish. I am not a very big fan of sweets. But when it comes to biscuit pudding, I forget everything. Just amazing!!!. I can go on eating this dish forever. This is very very easy to make. I remember, I always had fights with my cousins to get a bigger share. Since I was the guest at there home, I was the one who got the biggest share. (This is the next recipe I am going to post on this site, so keep watching).
It was very very difficult for me to pick these 10. There are many many more of them. But already I am feeling too emotional. So I would not break the rule, and stop at 10 :D.
I would love to tag Sudha , Sury , Reshma for this meme.
