The Mango Rains: Manga Kootan

I am quite fond of rains. We wait eagerly for monsoons in India to wash away the dirt and make the summer heat calm and pleasant. Well, the start of monsoons is usually the end of summer which in-turn ends the mango season. Nevertheless, I still used to wait for the pre-monsoon showers as my mother fretted over the disappearing good mangoes; My mother's fav fruit. She is actually surprised how one cannot be fond of the juicy golden fruit.Well, she was supposed to have gorged on them throughout her pregnancy and hence, I have no doubt in believing that I got bored of sweet smelling fruit even before I was born. To my mother's dismay,I always told her that the damn fruit is so much over rated. Nevertheless, I found a Kerala recipe that uses mangoes in my MIL's repertoire of delicacies that I totally loved! So after all, I did somewhere down the line make peace with the fruit. Oh and by the way, it did rain today! As you all know sweet and sour is so my thing now a days :).

Manga Kootan:-

Ingredients:-
2 tbl spns of curds
3-4 (red chillies + 5-6 seeds of fenugreek seeds) roasted in 1 tsp of oil
1/3 cup of medium sized diced raw mango/sour mango peeled
2/3 cup grated coconut
2 tsp of jaggery (Do not make it too sweet)
1 tsp turmeric powder
4-5curry leaves
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of oil to temper

Method:-
Boil the  mango with 1/2 cup of water for 15 mins or until soft with salt and turmeric. Mango pieces should be squashed completely.
Add jaggery little by little and see the taste.
Grind the coconut and red chillies and fenugreek seeds (roasted in oil).
Add to the curry and cook for a min in medium heat
Temper the curry with curry leaves and mustard seeds.
Once the curry cools, add the curds and mix well.
Serve with rice and a dollop of ghee.

My lil escapade just before it rained. I loved the cool breeze.