Ambe Upkari (Mango Curry)

Ambe Upkari is a sweet and spicy dish which is very common in almost every special occasion held in summer. Ambo means mango in konkani and this dish always makes me feel nostalgic.As a kid, every summer I used to stay at my Aunt's home. Their backyard had many mango trees. The trees were very huge and hence it was very difficult to pluck those mangoes. Whenever there was a heavy wind blow, we used to run under the tree to pick the fallen mangoes:-)  Those mangoes are best suited for this dish. It is very small in size and even in ripe condition it has a green color!(I don't know the name of the mango)

I cannot find such mangoes in a place where i am staying. So i had to compromise with the mangoes from Mexico. Now coming back to the dish-

Ingredients:

• Ripe Mangoes- 3
• Jaggery- To taste
• Green Chilli- 2
• All purpose flour/ Maida- 2 Tbsp
• Dry Red Chilli- 1
• Oil- 1 1/2 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Split black gram/Urad dal- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- Few
• Salt- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Remove the peel of the mangoes. Don't throw the peel.

Now add little water to the peel and squeeze it properly to get the juice. Repeat this process twice so that there is sufficient juice to cook the mangoes.

Take the peeled mangoes, the juice extracted and the green chillies ( cut it lengthwise) in a pan and bring to a boil. Add salt.

Cook it for 15 minutes and now the color of the mango will slightly change. Add jaggery depending on how sweet you want. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Now take All purpose flour in a small bowl. Add little water to it and make a thin paste without lumps. Add this paste to the cooked mangoes and cook it for 5 more minutes. Adding the maida paste will give thickness to this dish. Turn off the heat.

For seasoning the dish, heat oil and then add mustard seeds. Once it starts spluttering, add urad dal. Fry for few seconds and then add red chilli and curry leaves.

Ambe Upkari is ready!! This dish is served as a side dish with rice or can be eaten independently. Above measurement serves two people.