Mango, the undisputed king of fruits, has its season in the summer. Several dishes in Indian cuisine feature this fruit. Despite the widespread usage of raw mango in savoury, sour curries, dals, pulaos, and pickles, cooking with ripe mangoes is an art that only a tiny percentage of the Indian population has perfected. Ripe mango curry prepared in Manglorian style is an absolute must-mention. It is a unique dish that combines sweet ripe mangoes with contrasting flavours like spicy, tart, and tangy.
Ambe Upkari is a local name for this delicacy. Steamed rice, Indian flatbread, or fluffy bread go wonderfully with this sweet, sour, and spicy curry. Mangoes of varying sizes (but all ripe) are used with their seeds in this dish. Wild mangoes have always been the curry's fruit of choice. Fruits of this variety are sweet and tangy in an appetizing balance and are tiny, juicy, and fibrous.
Due to the limited availability of wild mango varieties, people often settle for whatever is sold at their local grocery store. One can pick any fibrous ripe mango, whether it's a Badami, Totapuri, Rajapuri, Dasheri, Pairi, or Kesar mango. Nevertheless, Alphonso mangoes aren't ideal, as their sweetness overpowers whatever tanginess the recipe calls for. If the chosen mango turns out sweet, the locals use tamarind pulp to infuse tartness.
Ambe Upkari Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 small fibrous ripe mangoes
- 1/2 cup jaggery powder
- 3-4 green chillies
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil or clarified butter
- 2 dry red chillies
- 1/2 teaspoon white split urad dal
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 pinch asafoetida
Method
- Wash the mangoes thoroughly to remove any dirt and gluey substance. Using your hands, peel the skin of all the mangoes.
- Don't discard the peels, but keep them in a bowl! Pour ¼ cup of clean water on them.
- Using your hands, squeeze the peels in the bowl thoroughly to extract the remaining pulp stuck to the mango skins. Store the mango-mixed water in another bowl and continue till the water becomes almost clear
- Transfer the hand-peeled ripe mangoes to a saucepan and pour the pulp extracted from the peels into it.
- Put the saucepan on the heat and let it cook.
- Introduce the slit green chillies. Keeping the heat set on medium flame, bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low once it begins to boil and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes or until the mangoes are tender. Add jaggery and salt to taste, then stir until combined. If it tastes too sweet, add 2 teaspoons of tamarind pulp
- Reduce heat and simmer for at least 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
- Usually, it has a runny consistency, but if one wants to make it thicker can mix a slurry by using 2 to 3 teaspoons of rice flour in ¼ cup of water.
- Add it to the curry while boiling and cook until thick it thickens.
- Heat ghee in a tempering pan. Add the mustard seeds, and as they crackle, blend in dry red chillies and asafoetida.
- Immediately pour it over the mango curry and give a thorough stir.
Mangalorean-style Ambe Upkari is ready. It is relished best with steamed rice, rice crepes and rotis.