Five Healthy and Delicious Mango Recipes You Have To Try This Summer

Nupur Roopa shares five fun ways to cook with mangoes this summer. Try these recipes out and tell us how it went.

Mango, the king of fruits is believed to have originated in India. Amra-Phal, Rasala, and Sahakara are a few names by which mango finds a mention in early Vedic Literature. References about the mango are also found in Buddhist and Jain literature.

Indian summer is all about mangoes a fruit loved by everyone. In fact, the season is incomplete without this fruit. Many experiments, innovations and creative thinking must have happened to cook Mangoes in season and store it for future in the form of pickles, murabbas, papad, powder, and more.

Regional and traditional Indian cuisine is amazingly diverse depending on the climate, vegetation, and cultural taste preferences. Every family has special mango recipes handed down over generations.

Here are a few more recipes you can try.

Aam Daal (Bengal)

Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay who spent her childhood in Durgapur, the arid part of West Bengal remembers her mom’s Aam Daal, cooked with raw mangoes sourced from a huge mango tree growing in their backyard.

This daal with cooling properties was her favourite dish in summer. “We had it almost every day before going to school in March for school exams as Durgapur become very hot at that time.”

Method

Mix salt and turmeric with daal and pressure cook with 1 and 1/2 cup water. Keep aside.

In a wok, heat mustard oil. Temper with red chillies and mustard seeds. When sputtering, add the mango chunks and sauté well until softened. Add boiled daal and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with slit green chilly or coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed rice and potato fries.

Aam Khoya Pua

This recipe is from rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. It combines the taste of mangoes with khoya giving a crumbly texture to the filling. With no added sugar its mild sweetness is refreshing.

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat flour

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 - 3 cups milk (more if required)

• 3 cups khoya (grated)

• 1.5 cups mango pulp

• ½ tsp cardamom powder

• Few saffron threads

• Ghee for frying

Method

1. Mix both the flours and add milk slowly to make a smooth batter. Add milk as required to get a flowing consistency. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

2. Add the grated khoya with mango pulp and mix well. The mixture will be a bit moist and crumbly. Add cardamom powder and saffron.

3. Heat a griddle. Add ghee and pour the batter. Let it cook for 5 minutes on medium flame. Flip it and add some ghee to cook it further. When both the sides are golden in colour remove it and place on a plate to cool

4. Then place some mango khoya mixture in the centre and fold it in half.

5. Stuffed Aam Pua is ready.

6. Note: In some places khoya, is replaced by grated paneer with some sugar. Both versions are equally delicious, but the paneer version is lighter.

Mango Kadhi

This is prepared in the Gwalior/Shivpuri region of India. You need very few spices to make this light dish. It goes well with rice and is appetising in the hot season

Ingredients

• ½ cup raw mango pulp

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 1 pinch of asafoetida

• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)

• 2 tbsp chickpea powder (besan)

• 1.5 tbsp oil

• Salt to taste

• ½ tsp turmeric

• ½ tsp red chilli powder

• 2 tsp sugar or jaggery

• 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Method

1. Mix besan and mango pulp to a smooth paste. Add 2 cups of water and whisk.

2. Add salt, turmeric, and chilli powder.Mix well.

3. Cook this mixture on medium heat stirring continuously. Once the mixture is cooked it will thicken slightly. Remove from heat.

4. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Then add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds.

5. Pour the seasoning into the cooked mixture and mix well. Add sugar/jaggery and cook. If the kadhi is too thick add some warm water to get the required consistency.

6. Boil and serve with rice.

Potato Curry with Aam Papad

This recipe is an interesting invention for times of scarcity of time and resources. The sweet and sour taste makes it a great option for cold winter nights or rainy days. The origin of this dish is unknown, but I tasted this in the Nimar region of Central India.

1. Heat oil and add cumin seeds, green chillies

2. Add boiled cubed potatoes.

3. Add turmeric, red chilli powder and salt and add 2 cups of boiled water.

4. Let it cook.

5. Mash a little to thicken the gravy.

6. Once done add small pieces of aam papad, chopped coriander and black pepper powder.

7. Boil for 5 minutes. Serve with roti.

Sabudana Khichari with Mango

This recipe is prepared in the Vidarbha region. Easy and simple it adds the tangy sourness of raw mango.

Namita Joshi remembers this as her childhood favourite, says, “We loved the taste so much that my grandmother would grate and sundry the raw mangoes when in season for us to use later.” She shares her grandmother’s recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups soaked sabudana

• 1 cup roasted and powdered groundnuts

• ½ cup grated raw mango

• 1 potato boiled and cubed

• 2 green chillies chopped

• 3 tbsp chopped coriander

• ¾ tsp red chilli powder

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 2 tbsp ghee/oil

• Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix the sabudana with ground-nut powder, add salt and some red chilli powder and mix.

2. Heat ghee/oil. Add cumin seeds.

3. Add green chillies and potato. Stir and cook.

4. Add the remaining chilli powder and stir further.

5. Add the sabudana mixture. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Stir and cook until cooked.

7. Add the grated mango and chopped coriander and cook further for 5 minutes.

8. Remove from heat and serve. Your tangy khichari is ready.

Cooking traditions speak about experimentation with taste, the substitution of available resources and most important the ingenuity of the cooks that helped us to survive famines, food scarcity and wars.

Placing a meal on the table that is nutritious and tasty is an art that homemakers took the food science to an ultimate level over a period of centuries.

Speak, discuss, and explore the traditional family recipes to revive. Don’t let this rich heritage get lost in our fast pace of life.