I've achieved a milestone in cooking by making this dish. It doesn't have anything to do with my blogging. I think I've already mentioned here itself ‘n' number of times about my “fruity affair”. Ok, I will make it clear, I don't eat most of the fruits. There is no particular reason for not having it, but I don't eat them. After marriage because of compulsion from “certain somebody” I've started trying it and you can see the result here.
When I say I don't like fruits, I not only dislike eating them but also dislike touching them. Ya, its like asking a hardcore vegetarian person to touch some meat and fish. So now I will go to the story and explain how this recipe becomes a part of my milestone achievement. Again I've improved a bit after my wedding. Didn't somebody tell you that marriage is a turning point??
Ok, so during my college days, I was a hardcore non fruitarian (dont know any other word). I never used to eat, touch or even sit near somebody who is having fruits!! After my graduation days, I went to Banglore for my PG and was staying in a hostel there. It was the first time I was staying away from home and I was miserably home sick. We had a small room in which 4 of us were staying and we had bunk beds in that. So this incident happened in the first week of my hostel days. One evening we (my friends n myself) were sitting in the room and having the usual chit chats. Two of my friends, Divya & Vidhya were sitting on the top bunk bed and me & Sharon (another friend of mine) was sitting in the GF bunk bed. Divs & Vidhya were having grapes while chatting and after sometime it got over. since I was sitting closer to the dining room, where rest of the grapes were kept, they asked me to get another set of grapes for them. tada….I could hear my heart beating faster. Here comes the dreadful moment for me. Usually whenever I tell somebody that I dont eat fruits, they look at me like a weirdo and some people even go to the extent of saying “what a waste of life”!!
I was confused what to do. Touching grapes was unthinkable at that point of time and I didnt want to appear as a weirdo especially during the initial days. I had to make a decision fast, they were waiting for me….I did it finally!! No, I didnt get the grapes, I told them that I dont touch fruits or something to that effect! Even today after 6,7 years I clearly remember the expression on their faces!! I think its self explanatory and I don't have to elaborate on it ;)
Ok, now after all that drama, am cooking with fruits, touching it and peeling it, all by myself!! For me its a great achievement and indeed a milestone. These days whenever I handle fruits I always remember my friends and their shocked faces :)
I should say I was all excited to make this dish, because its the first time am peeling a fruit and cooking it n all. Though am embarrassed to say this, I was contemplating whether I should use gloves to peel the skin (heights of fussiness) and finally I decided to go bare handed and did it!!
Finally the recipe. I called home and got the recipe from Sarasa chechy and it so happened that when I was checking some recipes in a book called Kerala Syrian Christian Favourites, I happened to see the recipe there also. When I compared Sarasa chechy's recipe with the one in the book, it was almost the same except for a few changes. So the recipe you see here is a mix of both.
Here is the recipe…
Ingredients
- 5-6 small Ripe Mangoes
- Salt
- 1 cup Grated coconut
- A pinch Jeera
- 1/2 tsp Chopped Garlic
- 2-4 Small onion / Pearl onion
- 3-4 Green chilly
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 4 Small onion / Pearl onion
- 2 Red chilly
- 1/2 tsp Mustard
- Curry leaves
- Salt
- Oil
Instructions
- Peel the mangoes and cook the peeled mangoes with salt and 1 -1 1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes.
- Grind together coconut, jeeraa, garlic, small onion, green chilli and turmeric powder with 1/2 cup of water to a fine paste. Add this and 1/2- 1 cup of water to the mangoes. Check salt and add more if required.
- Cook for 5-7 mins on low flame. Make sure that it doesnt boil. Remove from fire.
- Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add sliced small onions, red chilly & curry leaves. Fry it till the onion becomes golden brown. Pour this over the curry. Let it rest for a while for the flavors to settle in. Serve with rice.
Hi Maria
This curry looks yummmmmy. I love this curry n wanted to make this. Can plz tell me which mango u used. I am in Dubai and don’t know whether I get that mango u mentioned here.
Hi Jeena,
Back home, we normally use small size mangoes called chandrakara or something like that. But I think you can use any variety of sweet ripe mangoes for this.
Cheers
Maria
i add curd to this curry………..
Congrats on getting all those awards, and thanks a ton for passing on to me!!!!!
Btwn, i tried the lemon and dates pickle and it came out so great, thanks for the recipe dear.
Priya, welcome to my blog :) and thanks dear for your sweet words. You’ve a wonderful blog!!
Ammu dear, thank you :)
Thanks Divya :) Hope you got loads of Alphonso during the mango season ;) btw, I’ve started liking alphonso mangoes :)
Ann dear, thank you:) I would love to see the Thrissur style mango curry :) and hey very happy to hear that you liked the men curry and yes it tastes great the next day, thats when all the flavors set in.
Rashmi – you’re a very talented person and am very happy to pass on the awards to you :)
Rachel – I think we both are referring to the same Divya :). Btw, that’s a great book, rght?
Parita – happy to know that I’ve some company :) and thank you.
Thanks Mathew, hope you could find some mangoes soon :) and hey thanks a lot for trying out meen vevichathu :)
Thanks Ria dear and your pizza was awesome, we both enjoyed it very much :)
Godzown, thanks dearie ;)
That was funny…didnt know abt ur special liking for fruits u weirdo:-)hihi
Way to go dear.!
Nice pic by the way…looks so Yummy..
Maria, your pic leaves me drooling! I bet it was equally tasty! And thanks a bunch for trying out the pizza recipe :)
waaah…this curry looks like heaven..dont remember the last time i had this..and now i badly want to taste it…btw thanks for the meen vevichathu recipe..i have been trying it and its turning out really great..
Well you are not the first one to dislike fruits, many of my friends dont like fruits..i love them :) thats a hilarious story, i can imagine their expression :)
curry sounds fantastic and picture looks warm and welcoming :)
I just “rolled my eyes” because I am just crazy for fruits. Is this divya who I think it is?
I have that book too and tried it too and it sure makes a yummy curry!
Thank you so much Maria for the Award!! I am so excited to get my first award.
Pazha Manga curry is one of fav recipes. Thanks for sharing. Oh and congrats on overcoming your fear for fruits Ms. Weirdo !!! LOL
Lol on your stories you non-fruitarian..!! contributed something to the dictionary as well..!! lol
I love pazhamanga curry.but we in thrissur make it in a slightly different way..yours look divine and made me nostalgic..!!
(last day I tried your kottayam style meen curry and it was fantastic esp next day..thanks & Hugs Maria.)
Ahem ahem..can I laugh out loud at the image of you peeling the fruits with a glove..;)
My hubby’s friend dislikes Mango and never goes anywhere near it..we didn’t coax him to try it because whenever he got boxes of Alphonso mangoes[he used to get many during his audits]it came straight to our house..;)
Love the click..the mango curry sounds like a must-try…:)
Pic looks great..who wouldn’t like this exotic naadan dish!! And thanks a lot for nominating me!!
Hi Maria ,this is my 1st visit to ur Amazing blog , Actually my Mom’s native is Nagerkoil(near kerela),so she cooks all kerela recipes so i also learned some kerela dishes from her……Iam very impressed with ur Menu’s…….will follow u daily ……..if u get time make a stop in my blog too………Congrats on all ur Awards……