Spicy Oil Free Raw Mango Pickle-2.

Spicy Oil Free Raw Mango Pickle with With Small Pieces (Podi) and Finely Chopped (kochla) Pickle ..... A little bit of pickle along with food goes a long way be it summer, winter or rainy season .... It tickles the taste bud and makes the dishes that more appealing when a little bit of is served on plate on a corner .... 

Come summer and you get loads of raw mangoes in the market. I am always under pressure when Mangoes are in season as mangoes tend to rot fast and the items have to be prepared as soon as possible when they are firm and fresh lest the shelf life will get affected and all the hard work will go down the drain, if it does not remain good for a period of at least 6-8 months. I have already posted raw mangoes pickle recipe and there is not difference in the method of preparation except for a few minor changes. Here I have added a little bit of haldi, increased the amount of hing and mustard seeds and ground the Chilly masala into a coarse paste instead of smoother one. Also I have prepared two different pickles with adding the same masala. Again the difference between the 2 is only in the style of cutting. One I have cut into medium sized pieces while for the other I have made very fine cutting. We refer the fine cuttings one in Konkani as kochla Nonche meaning finely chopped pickle. 

This pickle is oil free as we GSB Saraswath Konkani prepared most of the pickles without the addition of oil. However, this particular pickle has to be stored in fridge or else it will get spoilt. If stored properly in the fridge it usually lasts for more than 6 months. Care should be taken to see that always a clean and dry spoon is used when removing the bottled pickle or else the pickle may get spoilt. It would be adviceable to take some pickle into a small glass jar and use the same instead of keeping removing the pickle often from the main bottle. 

Here is to making the the pickle ….. Wash and wipe dry with a clean towel, about 8 large sized Raw Mangoes. The Raw Mangoes should be firm and white from inside, the ripening process of the Mango should not have been started. They should also be sour in taste. 

Slice the sides of about 6 raw mangoes and cut them into medium sized cubes. See that you cut the raw mangoes as closely to the center seed as possible. Remove all the fleshy part of the raw mangoes and do away with the center seed. Slice the sides into thinner slices and cut into fine pieces the remaining 2 raw mangoes. Keep them both separate. 

Fill a large steel vessel with 2 litres of water and keep it to boil, when half hot add in 2 cups of salt (I always use crystal sea salt for making of pickle). Bring the water to a boil. When the salt has dissolved / mixed well and remove from fire. Let cool completely. Sometimes there are dust particles in this salt, so once the salt water has cooled completely sieve it in cotton cloth. Always use clean muslin cotton cloth for sieving to remove the dirt particles as sieving it in steel sieve will not serve the purpose.

Add the chopped raw mangoes into 2 separate sterilized glass bottle, of appropriate size. Add the cooled salt water into both the sterilized glass bottle upto the brim level. 

Cover with the lid tightly and keep aside overnight or for 8-12 hours or overnight. Next day sieve out the salt water from the raw mangoes and keep aside. The salt water will be used for grinding the pickle and adding to the masala later if necessary.  

For the Pickle Masala : Grind about 40 red kashmiri chilly with the required amount of salt water coarsely. Do not add more salt water. Add in a small marble sized piece of hing, which has been fried in a teaspoon of oil till it melts or add 2 tablespoon of hing powder fried in a tablespoon of oil and also add about 2-3 teaspoon of mustard seeds to the grinding mixture. Continue to grind all of the ingredients for another minute till the masala is well blended. Do not grind for too long as the mustard seeds will then impart bitterness to the masala also we do not want a fine paste.

Now divide and add sufficient masala to both the sterilized glass bottle in which the raw mango pieces are added separately. Mix well. There should be enough masala to bind all the pieces well. Add in some salt water also to both the jars and mix well to get a thick masala pickle. Do not mak the pickle too thin by adding more of salt water. You can always add in boiled and cooled water later on if you find the masala in the pickle getting drier. 

Mix the pickle well, put on the lid tightly and leave it out for a day outside in a cool place. Then keep the bottle / container in fridge and remove as and when necessary to be served. Always use a clean and dry spoon when removing the bottled pickle or else the pickle may get spoilt.