Mango with onions is a family recipe we grew up eating on hot summer days. Mangoes were in abundance and generally eaten chilled or else cooked for lunch followed by chilled doodh pak (milk pudding).
Most families bought their mangoes by the crate. This particular dish was created to use up the softer ripe mangoes left at the bottom of a crate.
It is hard for anyone accustomed to today’s technology to envision a sweltering hot day, with perhaps a slow fan and no air-conditioning and none of the comforts that we take for granted. Yet millions of people live without these in the sub-continent today. Their food is generally bought and cooked on their day off.
This vegan recipe may be served as a main course or a side dish.
Ingredients
- •45 ml (3 tablespoons) vegetable oil
- •3 medium onions, thinly sliced
- •7.5 ml (1½ teaspoons) ground ginger
- •7.5 ml (1½ teaspoons) ground garlic
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- •2.5 ml (½ teaspoon) turmeric
- •1 stick cinnamon
- •12 green whole cardamoms
- •2 slit whole green chillies
- •4 large mangoes, peeled and cut in thick slices
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt
- •23 ml (1½ tablespoons) vinegar
- •23 ml (1½ tablespoons) brown sugar, or to taste
- •Chappati (bread), for serving
Preparation
Heat oil in pan and fry the sliced onions till golden brown. Add the ginger, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, and green chilies. Stir and fry for 1 minute, then add the mangoes and salt and mix well.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat till the mangoes are softened but not all mashed up. Add the vinegar and sugar, 30 ml (1 tablespoon) at a time, tasting it till just right.
Serve with chappati.
Tips
Use sweet and sour mangoes for best results.
One can substitute jaggery for sugar. It is more difficult to add little at a time as needed and hence the choice to use brown sugar instead. White sugar will work if you have neither brown sugar or jaggery.
If you wish to make keri kanda mangos (meat in mangoes) add 300 grams (12 ounces) lamb/mutton/goat with the above spices and 237 ml (1 cup) water, cooking until the meat is tender. Later add the mangoes and cook another 30 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar at the very end to finish it off.
