Happy Mango Pickle Day!

I’m sure you’ve heard of Nutella Day, that the world recently celebrated on 5^th of February. There are a lot of days that celebrate various foods worldwide, but not many days that celebrate Indian Foods.

So Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, my food mentor and former boss at APB Cook Studio, has started this great movement to observe various food days to celebrate Indian foods – here’s her own blog post about her initiation of this movement!

And on the 22^nd of April, she encourages us to observe and celebrate one of India’s most quintessential accompaniments – the Mango Pickle – with #AamAchaarDay!

Different communities have versions of Aam Achaar – whether sweet, spicy or tart, with cubed or grated raw mango or even whole baby mangoes,  that could be brined or salt dried or sun dried or cooked – the possibilities are endless! So as per tradition, summer time would be the season to stock up on raw mangoes by the kilo and pickle them for the rest of the year.

The paternal side of my family is Gujarati, so we have a variety (one of many) of mango pickle called Chhundo. This sweet and spiced pickle of syrupy goodness is a mainstay at our dining table through the year. Made of grated raw mango, it is cooked in sugar or jaggery to a jammy consistency and then spiced with chili, salt, jeera, and other spices. Each family will have their own preferred spice blend to add, but one favourite is made with the addition of sambhar masala (pronounced “sum-bhhar” and NOT to be confused with sambar, the south Indian lentil and vegetable curry, eaten with idli!).

My grandmother's freshly made Chhundo, just before the spices have been added

There is always a stock of homemade chhundo at my grandparents’ home in Mumbai, and sometimes they even send me a jarful. And this summer, my grandmother just made a fresh batch a few days ago!

Chhundo literally means to macerate

The traditional method of making this is to add sugar or to salted grated keri or raw mango, and then leaving it in the sun on the terrace of your home for 10-12 days to cook naturally! But living in the gloriously polluted metro city of Mumbai, where such traditional methods are now only remembered wistfully, my grandmother has devised a stove-top version of the method. Here’s her recipe for chhundo:

• 1 kg Raw Ladva Keri
• 3 big tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons turmeric powder
• 2 kg fine granules/powdered sugar
• Jar and muslin cloth (if using sun-cooking method)
• Salt, red chili powder and jeera powder to season, OR Sambhar masala

1. Grate the raw mango and mix with the salt and turmeric. Let it sit for 6-7 hours
2. Add the sugar to the salted mango and let sit for another day, until all the sugar naturally melts
3. Now, either fill into a porcelain or glass jar, cover mouth with a muslin cloth and place in the sun every day for about 10-12 days till thick and syrupy, or, use my grandmother’s genius adapted method. Place a solid iron pan on the lit stovetop, place a stainless steel pot with the mango-sugar mixture on the iron stove. Cover with a flat sieve to allow moisture to escape and let it cook slowly for 4-5 hours every day for about 3 or 4 days – until the sugar becomes a one-thread-thick syrup.
4. Add salt, chili powder, and jeera powder as per your flavour preference, or add sambhar masala, and mix it up real nice.
5. Store in glass jars all year round, and eat with thepla for total and complete Gujju-ness!

If you do make this, or have your own favourite versions of mango pickle, or memories associated with mango pickle, do share on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtag #AamAchaarDay! And tag me, maybe!