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!!
I know this is a very long post, but one last thing before you head to the recipe. Dear Shab’s of Shab’s Cuisine tagged me and passed some awards. Thanks a ton dear :) Am very excited about it :). Since I’ve already done an elaborate tag here, I dont want to bore you guys anymore.
These are the lovely awards:
The Kreativ Blogger award comes with some rules:-
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated
I would like to pass it on to the following bloggers:
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.
- Ripe Mangoes – 5-6 of small size
Salt - Grated coconut – 1 cup
Jeera - a pinch
Garlic – 1 piece
Small onion – 2-4
Green chilly – 3-4
Turmeric powder – 1/4-1/2 tsp - Small onion – 4
Red chilly – 2
Mustard – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - Salt
Oil
Peel the mangoes and cook the peeled mangoes with salt and 1 -1 1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Grind together the number 2 ingredients 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.
Notes: I used coconut oil. The gravy of this curry has a medium thick consistency, so adjust the amount of water accordingly. I think back home this is made with a type of Mango called “chandrakaran”, am not sure about it though. Usually its made with mangoes which are smaller in size (at least I think so ;) ). My amma was saying sometimes a little jaggery is added towards the end of cooking to give it more sweetness. I haven’t tried it that way. Please give it a try, if you like that flavor.
