Maangaai Pachchadi
Maangaai Pachchadi is a traditional chutney made with unripe or semi-ripe mango and jaggery. This dish is typically prepared on Tamil New Year’s day and it has a symbolic importance. All six basic tastes are incorporated in this pachchadi to symbolise that ‘life is a combination of all emotions and we have to have a balanced approach towards everything’.
In this recipe I’ve not completely added all the tastes because I did not have neem flowers (to bring in the bitter taste) and when the mango is used with the skin the astringent taste also is incorporated. But personally I don’t like my maangaai pachchadi to have the outer skin of the mango. So this recipe is tailor made for my taste buds. If you want to include all six tastes then use mango with skin and in the tempering add neem flowers after the mustard seeds splutter and fry till it turns dark brown.
So here’s my recipe for a tasty Maangaai Pachchadi.
Ingredients
Sliced Mango – 3 cups (heaped)
Jaggery (powdered) – 1 cup
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Dried Red Chilly – 1
Water – 1 3/4 cups
Yield
3-4 cups
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Method
1) Wash the mango, peel and slice it roughly.
2) In a wide heavy bottomed pan take the sliced mango and add 1 1/4 cups water and salt. Mix once, cover and cook on medium heat until soft and mushy. Stir in between to avoid the mango sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3) While the mango is cooking, take the jaggery in another pan and add 1/2 cup of water. Cook this on medium heat, stirring continuously until the jaggery melts. Allow the jaggery water to boil for 5 mins. After 5 mins switch off the heat and set this aside.
4) Once the mango cooks completely, reduce heat and strain the jaggery water (to get rid of any impurities) on top of this cooked mango. Stir, cover and cook on low to medium flame.
5) Keep stirring periodically to avoid the maangaai pachchadi sticking to the bottom of the pan. The mango-jaggery mixture might splatter at this stage, so use a long handled stirring spoon to mix. After 10 to 12 mins of cooking, the pachchadi will thicken to a preserve consistency. Reduce the heat completely.
6) Now heat a tempering pan and add the oil. Heat the oil a bit and add mustard seeds. Wait until it splutters and add dried red chilly. Fry for 30 s and add the tempering to the maangaai pachchadi. Mix once, switch off the heat and cool to room temperature.
7) Transfer the maangaai pachchadi to a clean sterilised container and refrigerate. This pachchadi will stay fresh for 8 to 10 days when refrigerated.
Notes
- I used a mango that was quite sour and hence added 1 cup jaggery. I prefer maangaai pachchadi to be sweet and sour equally. You can increase or decrease the amount of jaggery according to your taste preference and also according to the natural taste of the mango.
- If you don’t have powdered jaggery and have only big chunks of jaggery, then try grating it in your vegetable grater. If it is too hard to grate then just heat up the lump of jaggery in microwave for 40 to 50 s. The hard jaggery will soften and you can easily grate it.
- Traditionally, jaggery is used to make this dish. If you don’t have jaggery then try this with raw/brown sugar.
- This recipe is safe for children. In this case, you may choose to leave out the chilly.
