Ambe Upkari / Ripe Mango curry.

“Delicious Ripe Mango Curry / Ambe Upkari” … This is a sweet~spicy dish served as a dessert when in season in most of the Konkani Saraswat’s Home … A delicious dish loved by young and old alike … Yummilicious ….

Wash and wipe medium sized 6-8 Ripe Badami Mangoes (or any of your choice). Peel the skin off the mangoes and put the mangoes in a round bottomed large vessel. 

Put the peels of the skin in a flat vessel, add 2-3 cups of water to this and keep squeezing and mixing the skin to remove some juice of the mangoes that is stuck to the skin. You should follow the proceedure by smashing and squeezing the mango peels with your hands. Do not blend the skin or use mixer. Strain the juice. Repeat the proceedure once more. Collect the juice thus obtained and pour it onto the vessel in which you have put the whole mangoes. If you find the juice insufficient, you can add the juice of one or two whole mangoes. Preferably add the juice of one or two Alphonso Mango, the taste turns our really great. I have used one large Alphonso Mango juice here to the curry. That will give the curry added thickness and a nice mango aroma.

Add 200 gms of jaggery into the vessel and keep it on medium heat to boil, when it comes to boil add 6-7 green chillies slit lengthwise and mix well. You can add a pinch of salt (Optional), however I do not add any salt to this curry. Let the whole curry with mangoes simmer for about 10-15 minutes till all the jaggery has melted and mixed well.

Mix 2 tsp of Cornflour in half a cup of water. You can use maida also. Traditionally in the earlier days Maida was used. But most of us today use cornflour to bring the curry to a thick consistency. See that there are no lumps in the cornflour mixer. 

Gently pour this over the simmering curry and immediately mix the curry well. Keep the heat low so that the curry does not burn. Within few minutes the curry will get thickned, then bring the curry to one boil and remove from fire. If you find the curry too thick add some water and bring it to a thick pouring consistency. Similarly if you find it too thin you can repeat the cornflour proceedure using one more tsp of cornflour.

For tempering: Heat 2 tsp of oil in a small pan, when hot add 1 tsp of rai and when it splutters add 10-15 curry leaves and pour over the curry.

Serve this curry as a dessert during lunch / dinner time. This dish can be served both hot or cold. I usually serve some of it hot the first day. Keep it in the fridge and serve it chilled the next day.