Mango Rice
I am in constant search of simple recipes to cook for lunch boxes. Usually, I cook some simple lunch to take to office. It all changed in last few months when due to extreme weather conditions, I just feel like getting up late in the morning. So my lunch boxes were getting affected. I started cooking rice in the morning but pack the previous day’s gravy with it. But then, I have always felt it is not a good idea to pack gravies in lunch boxes as it is difficult to eat them in office. It is not an issue for me as my office is very near to home and I come home for lunch, but I feel bad for V. So from last one week, I am trying my best to get back to my old routine of packing either such quick fix rice items or chapathis for lunch.
I tried this recipe a couple of days ago. It is inspired by a recipe from the book “Pleasure of rice cooking” by Sneha R Vij. I had picked up this book in Bangalore before coming here but have hardly used it. This particular recipe caught my attention because we both are big fans of mangoes.
I did a minor change to the recipe – I added few finely chopped mangoes along with a mango paste. It gave a very nice bite to the dish. The aroma that comes out of the dish while frying, is very very intoxicating. Ever since I tried this,we have become huge fans of this mango rice. It is making a regular appearance in my boxes these days.
Ingredients: 1 cup rice 1/4 cup raw mangoes roughly chopped and 1/4 cup very finely chopped 1/2 tea spn chana dal 1 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1 tbl spn fresh/frozen coconut 3-4 green chilies 4-5 curry leaves A pinch asafoetida A pinch turmeric Oil Salt
Method: Cook rice – make sure each grain is separate, It becomes mushy if the rice is soft. Grind coconut with turmeric, 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mangoes, to a very coarse paste without adding any water. Heat oil and add chana dal . When it is turning brownish, add mustard seeds and urad dal . Add curry leaves, green chilies and asafoetida. Fry for a min. Now add the finely chopped mangoes and fry for few minutes till they become soft. Add the ground paste and fry till a nice aroma comes out. Add salt and rice. Mix well. Serve hot.
Serves : 2 Preparation time : 25mins
PS: Increase or decrease the quantities of mangoes depending on sourness. For better texture and taste, do not include the skin (mangoes available in US have a very thick skin which do not taste well). Even the left over rice from previous day can be used for this.
Mango rice
Some of you may start wondering what happened to me suddenly to start posting a recipe every day. Here is the answer. We are planning to go to India this month. Before that, I want to post more so that I can convert most of my drafts into posts. I am a cooking freak and the pace at which I post never catches up with the pace I cook. Sometimes it so happens that, I even forget the dish I cooked few days ago and keep wondering what is the dish in a particular picture (I can never type in the recipe soon after I cook it, as I get very tired by the time I finish cooking, so no, that advise will not work in my case). So please bear with me for an overdose in next few days.
Now coming back to today’s recipe. I had never heard of tomato pickle till I went to Belgaum to do my bachelors. There, we had a room mate called Swati – a very sweet girl from Andhra. She used to bring big batches of tomato pickles every time she went home. Though her pickle had more oil than what I prefered, I absolutely loved it. I didn’t know abc of cooking then and now that I think back, I don’t remember how that pickle tasted. But I can clearly remember – I absolutely loved it.
So last month when we went to Sunilanna’s home for a party , he served us a ready made tomato pickle. My love for this pickle re-surfaced and I had to prepare it myself if I wanted a good night’s sleep. So I checked the ingredient list on the bottle and recreated the recipe. I was not very sure that it would work out. But considering the feedback I have got from many people for this pickle, I think it was a success. As for me, I simply love it.
I also found out that, the original Andhra version of this pickle has some kind of seasoning – most of the times garlic seasoning. I didn’t include it in my pickle. I love the way it is, as I never liked onion or garlic in pickles(just an acquired taste). But if you like, you can include it. Addition of sesame seeds gave it a very nice aroma.
Ingredients: 1/2 kgs firm, ripe tomatoes 50gms chili powder 1 tea spn mustard seeds 1 tea spn sesame seeds 1/2 tea spn turmeric powder 1/2 tea spn fenugreek seeds 1/2 tea spn asafoetida powder 1 tea spn tamarind extract 1-2 tea spns oil 50 – 100 gms salt(approx)
Method: Heat oil and fry mustard seeds, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds taking care not to burn.
Switch off heat and add asafoetida, chili powder and turmeric (stand away from the pan, the strong chili aroma might burn your nose).
Cool to room temperature and powder them together. In a big thick bottomed or non stick pan, heat 1 tea spn oil. Add all chopped tomatoes and salt.
Cook on a high heat, mixing once in a while to avoid sticking. When all the tomatoes look mashed down, add tamarind. Cook for another 5-10mins.
Add the ground powders. Mix well. Let it cook for another 10mins.
Cool to room temperature and then store in air tight container. It can be consumed immediately, but it tastes great after 2-3 days. Keep it refrigerated. Remains good for 3-4months.
PS: I usually make my pickles a bit more salty as salt acts as a preservative. But my advise would be to start with 50gms of salt and check if that works out for you. It also depends on the kind of salt you are using. Usually after 2-3 days when the salt seeps in, the actual flavors of pickle can be tasted.
