Mango Chutney

Ingredients:
5 raw mangoes
Mint leaves (pudina) - 100 gms
Green chillies - 6
salt - 1 tspn
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

Recipe:
Peel the mangoes, wash and slice them. Mix rest of the ingredients, add half cup water and grind them. Tangy tomato chutney is ready to be eaten with tikkis, paranthas or kebabs.

Dry Mango Pickle

Ingredients:
100 raw mangoes
Turmeric powder - 1 small cup
Salt (weight equal to 5 mangoes)
Asofoetida - 1/2 tspn
Fennel (saunf) - 20 gms
Fenugreek seeds (methi) - 20 gms
Onion seeds (kalaunji or mangrael) - 10 gms
Whole dry red chillies - 50 gms
Carom seeds (ajwain) - 10 gms
Black pepper powder - 2 tspn

Recipe:
Wash and dry the mangoes, cut them to slices and remove the seed. Mix turmeric powder, asofoetida and salt with mango slices and keep them in a big vessel in sun and dew for two days and nights. Mango will leave all the water. On the third day take the mango pieces out and spread them on a cloth or newspaper. Let them dry in Sun for a day. Don't throw the residual water. Take rest of the spices except ajwain, roast them and ground the coarsely. Now mix the residual water, ground spices, ajwain and 200 gms mustard oil in the dried mango slices. Keep it in a glass vessel and leave it in sun and dew for atleast 4 days. Your pickle is ready. Its also called noncha in the North.

Khatti Kairi

The season of mangoes is starting and the raw ones or kairis will soon be available in the market. So, for coming days I'll be posting mango pickle and chutney recipes that I have learnt from my mother.

Ingredients:
30 raw mangoes (kairi)
Asofoetida (to taste)
Salt (weight equal to 3 mangoes)
Cumin - 10 gms
Black pepper pods - 10
Clove - 10
Black cardamom - 10
Nutmeg (jaifal), mace (javitri), cinnamon (dalchini), and bay leaves (tej patta) according to taste
Sugar (weight equal to 5 mangoes)

Recipe:
Peel the mangoes and slice them. Mix the sugar, asofoetida and salt in mango slices and keep them in sun and dew for 10 days and nights. Cover the vessel in which you keep mango slices with a clean cloth. After 10 days take rest of the spices, ground them and mix them in the mongo slices. Keep in sun and dew for another day and night. The pickle will be ready to eat after that.

Indian nachos

As a mother I faced a lot of problems when it can came to feeding my kids, especially my eldest daughter. Sometimes it becomes hard to make kids eat the regular food, roti-sabzi. Here's a quick fix for all you mothers to make them eat what you want while they enjoy it too.

Ingredients
4 Chapatis
Any sabzi
2 tbspn green/red pesto
1 cube cheese
2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 cucumber (finely chopped)
2 tbspn oil

Recipe
Cut chapati into 4 pieces, heat oil in a pan and roast the chapatis till they turn crisp. Mix pesto in the sabzi and grate cheese in it. Spread the sabzi on roasted chapatis, top it with chopped tomatoes, onion and cucumber. You can garnish it with more cheese if you wish. serve it to the kids with a glass of milk shake. I am sure they'll love it. If your kid doesn't like pesto you can use salsa dip or plain tomato ketchup instead.

Nimboo, adrak, muli, hari mirch ka achaar (Lemon, ginger, raddish, chilly pickle)

Ingredients
Lemons10
Ginger 100 gms
Radish 3
Green chillies 100 gms
Mustard seeds 15 gms
Salt 2  tbspn

Recipe

• Wash and peel ginger and radish and cut them into thin and long slices. 
• Remove the cap of green chillies and make a lengthwise cut in them. 
• Cut lemons into 8 pieces. 
• Crush mustard seeds, mix all the ingredients in a glass jar and keep it sun for 2 to 3 days. 
• It's ready to eat after 3 days.

Note: This pickle should be consumed within 3-4 days or should be stored in refrigerator.

Nimboo ka khatta achaar (Lemon pickle - sour)

Ingredients
25 Ripe Lemons
Salt - Equal to the weight of 5 lemons
Hing 2gms
Garam masala 4 tbspn
Roasted ajwain powder 2 tbspn
Red chilly powder 4  tbspn
Sugar 2 tbspn

Recipe
wash lemons and let them dry. Cut them into 8 pieces. Take lemon pieces in a pressure cooker, add rest of the ingredients and cook them. remove from gas after two whistles. Let it cool and transfer in a glass jar. Pickle is ready.                                                                                                                                                    

Nimboo ka meetha achaar (Lemon pickle - sweet)

Ingredients
Ripe lemon 50   
Clove 20  
Black cardamom 15
Black pepper 20gm  
Cinnamon 5gm 
Mace(javitri) 5gm 
Bayleaf 5
Nutmeg (jaifal) 1/2 
Asafoetida (heeng) 1/2 tsp
salt - equal to 10 lemon (in weight)
Sugar - equal to 20 lemon (in weight)  

Recipe
Wash lemons and dry them. Cut each lemon into 4 pieces. Grind all the spices a bit rough (mota). Put all the lemon pieces in a glass Jar (martaban), add heeng, salt, sugar and ground spices.Cover the jar with a clean cloth and keep it in the open (under the sky) for 15 days (and nights). After 15 days Pickle will be ready to eat.

Note: for this pickle sun light (dhoop) and dew (oas, shabnam) are equally important.