Make the Most of Summer With These Mango Curry Recipes From Around India

From Rajasthani Churri to Mangalorean mango curry, sweeten your meals with these Indian mango recipes.

I remember that summer afternoon on the outskirts of Chittorgarh years ago. We were a batch of college students doing a project in Rajasthan.

After travelling through the hot, dry landscape, we stopped at a roadside dhaba for lunch.

It was a simple fare of roti, gatta saag and an ordinary raw mango salad.

Surprisingly, the salad became the star delight of the meal. After enquiring we found out that it was Churri a simple raw mango recipe that stole the show.

Mango fruit, the flavour of Indian summer, originated in India thousands of years ago and became an inseparable part of Indian food, culture, and tradition.

It can be enjoyed raw, ripe, juiced, cooked, steamed, and curried.

Its sweet and sour taste complimented by spices and seasoning makes it a culinary delight.

Mango grows all over India. Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra are the top 10 mango growing states in India.

Uttar Pradesh tops the list in mango production. Many varieties like Alfonso/Hapus, Chausa, Dasheri, Kesar, Langda, Neelum, Payri, Safeda, Totapuri, and more are available.

Mango is a medicinal tree. The ripe and unripe fruit, leaves, bark, root, seed, and flower all the parts have medicinal properties. Ayurveda recommends it as a medicine for many disorders.

This delicious fruit has a remarkable nutritional profile. It boosts immunity and digestive health. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is an essential part of the Indian summer diet.

With a rich mango harvest every summer, over a period many recipes were invented.

Apart from the raw mango chutneys and cool drinks, Mango is added to salads and as a souring agent to dals and kadis.

Ripe Mango desserts are common, but ripe mango curries and sabzis are equally delicious.

Here are some mango recipes for you to try this summer.

Amba Sasav (Karwar/Goa)

Amba Sasav or sasam is a mango curry from the Goa and Karwar region. It is made from ripe mangoes like Dussheri and Rywal.

Traditionally, the pulp is squeezed but can be blended. However, mango chunks impart a lovely texture.

Grind roasted mustard seeds, coconut, and green/dry red chillies into a fine paste.

Then heat the oil, add mustard seeds, a pinch of Asafoetida, and the mango pulp.

Cook for a few minutes and then add the spice paste and salt, Cook until done.

Serve with rice.

Mango Curry (Kerala)

“Kerala curries prepared from ripe mangoes are appetizing”, says, Bangalore -based freelance writer Salini Vineeth, who hails from Kerala.

“We prefer using ripe, small mangoes that aren’t too sweet or sour.”

Salini Vineeth

These mangoes are peeled and added to the dish without cutting, she explains.

An interesting recipe, Chakka Kuru Manga Curry made from Jackfruit seeds and raw mangoes, is popular in Central Kerala. The jackfruit seeds are de-skinned, and pressure cooked.

Then mango pieces, a paste of coconut, cumin, and garlic (optional) are added and boiled. It is seasoned with mustard dry chilli and curry leaves. Cumin is not used for seasoning in Kerala.

Raw mango Mappas, a coconut milk-based mango curry, is popular in the Trichur region, Salini explains.

The mangoes are cut and cooked with salt and turmeric. These are first cooked in thin coconut milk. Later the thick milk is added and seasoned with mustard, red dry chilli and curry leaves.

Mango is also added to the fish curry to impart sourness instead of tamarind to the mango fish curry with coconut gravy.

Salini shares her recipe for Mango Seed Appam which tastes great

Mango Seed Appam

Ingredients

• 7 Seeds of ripe mango (medium size)

• 1 Cup fine rice flour

• ½ Cup grated coconut

• 5 Tsp Brown sugar/ jaggery powder

• ½ cup Water

• ¼ Tsp Salt

Preparation

• Dry the mango seeds in the sun for a day.

• Cut open the dry mango seeds to extract the kernel inside.

• Remove the brown outer skin of the kernels.

• Make a smooth paste of the kernels by adding enough water.

• Transfer the paste into a bowl, add 2-3 cups of water, and mix well.

• Keep the bowl aside for an hour until you see two separate layers.

• Drain the top layer and retain only the sediment. This helps to remove the slightly bitter taste of the mango kernel paste.

• Repeat steps 6 and 7 at least three to four times until you see an almost transparent top layer.

Cooking

1. Add the rice flour, grated coconut, jaggery powder, and salt into a mixer with ½ cup of water and make a fine paste.

2. Add the prepared mango seed sediment (it should now measure up to ¾ cup)

3. Grind it some more until all the ingredients are mixed well.

4. The batter should have a flowing consistency. Adjust the water as required.

5. Pour the batter into a steel plate or a circular steamer tin.

6. Make sure you fill only half the plate/tin. Else, the appam might not cook well.

7. Steam for 15-20 minutes. After 15 minutes, insert a toothpick to see if the appam is done. If not, steam it for a few more minutes. Let the appam cool and then remove it from the mould.

Mangalore Mango Curry

Features journalist and food writer, Ruth Dsouza Prabhu who has been documenting Mangalorean Catholic food says that the ideal mangoes for this curry are the smaller-sized ripe curry mangoes.

These are cooked with onion-chili ground masala. She shares the recipe from her mother Jane DSouza's - Cook Book on Mangalore recipes.

Mango Curry

Ingredients

• 15 Ripe Small/Curry Mangoes

• 8 Dry chillies

• 1 Onion

• 1 Tsp cumin seeds

• 1Tsp + ½ Tsp mustard seeds

• 1/2 Tsp turmeric powder

• 4 + 8 Garlic flakes

• Salt and jaggery to taste

Method

Wash and peel the mangoes. Scrape all the pulp from the peels. Wash the peels thoroughly in water, retain the water, discard the peels.

Using the water retained from cleaning the peels, grind all the ingredients except 1/2 tsp mustard seeds and 8 garlic flakes.

Heat oil.

Fry the mustard seeds and crushed garlic flakes, Add the ground masala and fry.

Add the remaining water from the peel, salt and jaggery.

Finally, put the mangoes and cook for ten minutes, allowing the gravy to be thick.

"We also make a dry fish and mango curry though it’s more of a Goan dish and not that common. And we brine mangoes for use as well."

Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

Green mangoes are used as souring agents for fish curries in most of the coastal regions.

Churri (Rajasthan)

The Churri mentioned earlier is a tangy salad made with only three ingredients.

• Peel and cut the raw mangoes into tiny pieces.

• Add salt, freshly ground mustard powder, and some sugar.

• Mix until sugar dissolves.

• Serve with rice/roti.

The tang of mustard makes it unique.

Mango Kheer (Mathura)

“It is a custom to prepare mango kheer for Janmashtami in many homes in my hometown, Mathura”, says Anjana Mathur.

The festival comes in August towards the end of the mango season, and sometimes it is difficult to get mangoes, she explains. It is a flavourful dessert.

Boil 1 litre milk to half. Add ¼ cup sugar (reduce the sugar if mangoes are very sweet).

Cook until sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes thick. Let it cool. Add saffron.

Peel the skin of two ripe mangoes and grate it carefully and add to the kheer. Refrigerate it for 3 - 4 hours.

Experiment with mangoes this season to prepare some unusual dishes and enjoy the taste.

New ways of cooking help us to experience diverse food cultures.

Use the local and seasonal and bring back the traditional recipes to ensure variety on your plate.

(Nupur Roopa is a freelance writer and a life coach for mothers. She writes articles on environment, food, history, parenting, and travel.)