Lunch and dinner, when there is scarcity of time, can be a light meal of dosa or chapathi with a curry and a side dish or a dip. But there is a tendency to settle for bottled pickles from the marketplace, instead of homemade dips and chutneys, as an accompaniment. Why not explore more and try something special that hardly takes time to make? The South Indian speciality, Mango Thokku, is recommended as a good choice for an accompaniment with chapati or dosa.
The chutneys served with dosa, idli, and chapati are essential in a meal, and while there are a wide range of chutneys made with coconut and tomatoes, how about an accompaniment that is different from the usual, like Mango Thokku? It is a pickled dish, which is sour, sweet, and slightly spicy. One can even describe the piquant Mango Thokku as a kind of jam. What’s more, it contains no preservatives and can be rustled up quickly. Thokku is a Tamil word, which means grated and cooked pickles.
Mango Thokku is made with grated mango, tempered with mustard seeds and carom seeds in sesame oil, and mixed with jaggery syrup, and flavoured with minimal spices, including turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and salt. Mango Thokku also goes well with the fluffy and soft Karnataka crepe, called neer dosa, which can be eaten for breakfast.
It is also healthy as it contains Vitamin C and antioxidants, among other nutrients, and is believed to be good for the hair, skin, and the teeth, and is also said to aid in digestion and weight loss. And the fact that it has no preservatives makes the dish even better. There are different kinds of thokku - such as Tamarind Thokku, Spicy Tomato Thokku, Brinjal Thokku, and Prawn Thokku.
Here is the recipe for Mango Thokku.
Ingredients:
• 2 raw mangoes
• Sesame oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp carom seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 medium-sized jaggery
Method:
• Wash and peel the raw mangoes.
• Grate the mangoes in a bowl.
• In a pan, slightly fry one teaspoon mustard seeds and carom seeds, let it splutter.
• Add the grated mango into the pan and fry it with the mustard seeds and carom seeds.
• Add one teaspoon turmeric powder, one teaspoon red chilli powder, and salt and cook the mango for five to six minutes on low flame.
• In a bowl, cut the jaggery and put, pour half cup of water.
• Cook the jaggery in the water until it boils and the jaggery dissolves completely.
• Strain the liquid and put the jaggery syrup in the mango, and mix it well.
• Cook and mix well for two to three minutes, and then take off from the fire.
• Serve hot.