Aam ka Achar – North Indian Green Mango Pickle/Maangai Oorukai

Pickle is a necessary side dish in all the Indian meals. Indian Cuisine is very famous for its spicy hot pickles with variety of vegetables. These pickles differ in taste from region to region with unique taste and flavor. South Indian pickle tastes very different from a north Indian pickle. Every summer almost all homes are busy in preparing these pickles. We love the north Indian version of mango pickles for their nice flavor and mustard oil taste.

This Aam ka Achar – North Indian Green Mango Pickle/Maangai Oorukai needs to be prepared in two phases (Preparation and Seasoning).

Mango is known as Manngai (மாங்காய்) in Tamil and as Aam in Hindi. Pickle is known as Oorukai/urugai (ஊறுகாய்) in Tamil and as Achar in Hindi.

Phase I: Preparation of Mango for Pickle

Ingredients

• Raw mango (pickle variety) – 4 no (approximately one kilo or 50 cut pieces)
• Crystal salt – half cup
• Turmeric powder – 1 tablespoon

Method

• Wash mangoes well; wipe and cut mangoes; remove seeds as these seeds are not needed.

• Add crystal salt and turmeric with mango pieces; mix well and keep it for two to three days to marinate; toss it daily twice.

• As salt slowly dissolves, you can see the juice coming out from mango pieces; pick up mango pieces and sun dry them for 6 to 7 hours (drying time will be in days if you want to dry it with juice).

• Now it is ready for seasoning.

Phase II: Seasoning of Mango Pickle

Ingredients

• Fennel seeds – 2 tablespoon
• Fenugreek seeds – 1 tablespoon
• Nigella seeds/kalonji (in Hindi)/karum jeeragam (in Tamil) – 1 teaspoon
• Red chilli powder – 2 tablespoon (can be adjusted as per taste)
• Turmeric powder – half teaspoon
• Asafetida – half teaspoon
• Salt – half tablespoon
• Mustard oil – 1 cup

Method

• Partially pound fennel and fenugreek seeds; add all listed ingredients (including pounded fennel/fenugreek seeds and mustard oil) to the sun dried marinated mangoes; toss well, cover and keep it over night.

• From the next day onwards cover the pickle with a net or clean thin cloth and keep it in bright sunlight for 3 to 6 days; daily toss/mix it with a dry spoon twice minimum.

• Now Aam ka Achar – North Indian Green Mango Pickle/Maangai Oorukai is ready for use.

• Keep it in a sterilized bottle to preserve it even for an year. Serve it with curd rice/chapati.

Tips

• Once in a while keep the pickle in sunlight to sustain the shelf life.
• For better shelf life, the oil level should be half to one inch above the mango pieces.