aam ka khatta meetha achar | gudamma | khattmithhi | aam ki launji | raw mangoes preserved in hot sweet n sour syrup

Indian summer means mangoes everywhere. Green mangoes, yellow mangoes, red tipped mangoes, round mangoes, oblong mangoes. Mangoes and more mangoes. Time to eat them now and to preserve them for the coming days.

This khatta meetha achar is a traditional UP preserve called khatmithhi, gudamma (gud is jaggery n the name suggests gud + aam) and paagey aam (meaning mangoes in sugar syrup). Call it by any other name, it is the hot favorite khatta meetha aam much like a gujrati chhunda and is a must do in this season.

For the last two years I am gifting a small jar of this to one of my neighbors as she likes it very much and this time when she asked about the recipe I decided to post it here.

You need raw mangoes for this preserve and if you do not find perfectly raw white flesh mangoes, you can go ahead with the yellowish flesh raw mangoes, it should be sour in taste so that khatta meetha (sweet n sour) taste is done justice with. If the mangoes are very firm and raw it will result in perfectly shaped firm pieces after cooking and if the mangoes are half ripe or slippery while cutting pieces you may end up with a mushy textured preserve. 

The good thing is, it does not affect the taste or shelf life of this preserve, so go ahead with making this preserve with whatever type of raw and sour mangoes are available in your part of the world.

It's a step by step procedure and i think it will be easy even for a first timer to make it perfectly.

ingredients ...

raw mangoes 2 kilo
sugar 800 gm to 1 kilo ( depending upon if you want more or less syrup)
water 800 ml to 1 L
2 pinches of salt
fenugreek seeds 1 tsp
fennel seeds 2 tsp
red chillies whole 6-8 ( to your taste )

procedure ...

Dry roast the fenugreek, fennel seeds and red chillies in a pan and powder them in the spice grinder. Keep aside.

Peel the raw mangoes with a potato peeler, cut them into 8 pieces and discard the cotyledons, keeping the hard seed coat intact.

Mix with the sugar and water in a stainless steel pan and start cooking.

Keep stirring frequently and keep the flame medium as it may froth up n spill...

It will start frothing n bubbling more and more as the syrup gets thicker........

At this point it needs to be stirred frequently and cooked on very low flame as it may stick to the bottom.....

Dip the spatula in the syrup and drop the syrup in the pan to check consistency....it should fall making a string....one string consistency as we call ek taar ki chaashni ..........

The color should be shiny and translucent and that is the indication that the preserve is ready.......

Add the spice mix and stir to mix properly, so that the spices release their flavor in the hot and sour syrup. Put off the flame and fill the preserve in sterilized glass jars.

It can be made thinner (with lesser sugar) to consume within a few days as it keeps in the fridge for a week or so. The preserve is quite sticky and is a common accompaniment of a simple daal chawal lunch during this season.

It is made in Bengali families too and they call it aamer chaatni every family may have their own version but I found one thing very interesting that the sweet chaatni is served in the end of the meal ,just before the dessert in Bengali meals. The chaatni is not eaten along with the meal as it is done in UP families.

Most UP homes will serve this gudamma with every meal during summers. Some people even mix this pickle with daal chawal and eat as a mix which I find repulsive somehow, but it just shows how much people love this khatta meetha aam ka achar. Gudamma or khattmithhi as you may call it.

mango kulfi falooda....homemade falooda with mango ice cream

It has been ages that i made any kulfi or ice cream , that seems like a sin considering both of us are such kulfi lovers and the kulfi should always be topped with falooda for us........we get decently good kulfi falooda at Roshan di Kulfi at karol bagh here in delhi and we always find ourselves huddled up there to have a plate......whenever we are around that area.

Many a times in the last few years i thought of making the falooda to treat both of us , but somehow i could not ....time was not the only factor , there are some things which need a certain level of 'thrill' to start with........Aam Malai was an easier option and the husband was happy with it too......even baking a brownie and having it with store bought vanilla ice cream was an easier option in that time..........and i told you , it was not all because of time management......the 'thrill' of cooking something this special was missing........

As i am trying very very hard to revive that 'thrill' lately , i thought of this kulfi n falooda..........falooda with pure saffron to take me to the lanes of my sweet memories....the lanes of Banaras where the kulfi falooda is divine with a light scent of cardamom and lots of slivered pistachio and saffron falooda ( though the falooda is artificially colored )....there are a few small street side shops around the bansphatak and godolia area who keep huge matkas ( round earthen pots) covered with wet red cloth to keep it cold ....the kulfi wala would fish out kulfi molds made of tin and sealed with white flour , roll them between his palms to ease out the kulfi from the mold , slip the kulfi in a plate chop it in three pieces and then he would dip his hands in another pot to scoop out a handful of noodly doodly falooda......the falooda would land over the kulfi ...a spoon would be quickly slid into the mess and would be handed over to you to devour.......oh my God i so want to got here right now..............

For those who do not want to go to the old parts of Banaras , there is always Anamika ( a small multicuisine restaurant ) at sigra crossing ..........this one was closer to our home and that kulfi falooda was a close second to the one i mentioned ............it has been about 12 years that i chomped on those wonders .........i have to go there soon.......

Making the falooda and the kulfi took to the days of my early childhood too , when we would make mango shake or aam malai in the afternoons of summer vacations and pour it into ice trays to make cubes of kulfi within 2-3 hours and before evening we would be finished with our produce........:)

I made mango kulfi to start making kulfi falooda after so many years just because mangoes are now in season and juicy ripe alfonso mangoes are luring me to take them home each time i go grocery shopping at my neighborhood store .........aam malai and mango shake were done with many times and then i decided............

This time too it was an afternoon affair with me as i started after lunch .....all i needed apart from mangoes is milk powder , sugar ( which was not needed this time ) and corn flour for the falooda......just that.....and saffron to flavor...

For two servings you need......  

alfonso mangoes ( any fully ripe sweet mangoes ) 2 nos.
  or mango puree 200 ml 
milk powder 200 ml
sugar 1 tbsp or to taste ( not needed if the mangoes are sweet enough) 
corn flour 3 heaped tbsp
water 250 ml 
saffron 10-12 strands 
a tbsp of milk to soak the saffron

a semiyan or murukku maker is needed to make the falooda 

procedure ...

This is a fun recipe..........actually.....you just need to have lots of ice cubes in the freezer as you need chilled water to make the falooda........

Firstly , scoop out the mango pulp and puree it .

Now measure the puree ( in my case 200 ml from 2 mangoes) and add equal amount of milk powder , ( and sugar if needed ) whip again to make a fluffy n medium stiff mix....i use a stand mixer for this......

  Pour into molds or in serving bowls or glasses ........

Tap the glasses against the platform to release any bubbles , cover with a cling film and freeze for 3 hours ......no need to take out after an hour and whip again to avoid ice crystals , the use of milk powder liberates you of this task.........the end product is so creamy and rich ...and setting them in individual serving bowls hastens the setting or freezing time...........

Once the kulfi is in the freezer , head to make the falooda...though both of these things can be made in advance and falooda keeps very well in the refrigerator for a couple of days......keep the semiyan maker ready in the side before heading to cook the cornflour mix.................

and soak the saffron in milk in advance.....

not to forget ..lots of ice cubes to make chilled water.........

Dissolve the corn flour in water ......it has a tendency to settle in the bottom so keep stirring for a while and cook to make a paste........i cooked it in the microwave , cooking for a minute and stirring till it reaches a molten wax like texture......it took me 4 times of stirring and microwaving........it needs a vigorous strring as it gets thicker after every microwaving session..........

Alternatively cook it over flame in a thick base wide pan , stirring vigorously all the while till it reaches this texture n thickness........it is very thick and needs to be passed through the nozzle quickly......otherwise it will harden n would result in smaller length of falooda..........( trying to take pictures at every step resulted in such a situation here too and the falooda was not as long as i wished )....no regrets...

Now spoon in the cooked corn flour slush into the semiya maker cylinder , fit in the thin semiya nozzle and fix the lid .

Fill a large bowl with chilled water with some ice cubes in it , position the semiyan maker over this and rotate the handle of the machine to drop falooda in to the cold water.......the corn flour jelly will harden as it reaches the chilled water .

Make a small batch and pass through a colander , keep dipped in another wide bowl of chilled water...

Repeat with the process of dropping falooda in chilled water and draining it , you may need to dip more ice cubes after every batch of falooda being made...........the last batches of falooda may be smaller in length if it is not done quickly.........

Mix the saffron soaked in milk with the falooda and keep covered in the fridge till needed ....

The reason i choose to set the kulfi in large glasses is that we can have more falooda on top........

Clicking pictures while making the falooda was tough ....after serving the kulfi it was more so.........

Yummy creamy silky smooth kulfi .......a regular kulfi has a grainy texture due to nuts and khoya used but this is more like an ice cream due to powdered milk used.........the regular kulfi will be posted soon hopefully.......i am 'thrilled'.......

We had three helpings of falooda each ...........no kulfi wala will be willing to satisfy someone like me ...or my husband.....a true soul mate........falooda is the soul of kulfi..........

home made amchoor powder | how to make amchoor powder at home | a quick chhole recipe using home made amchoor powder

Amchoor or amchur is dry mango powder, a very intrinsic component of north Indian cooking. Amchoor is a popular souring agent in north Indian cooking.

Any simple curry or stir fry can get an added zing with a finishing dash of amchoor powder. It is also used for chutneys and some pickles too, like the famous bhari mirch ka achar, red Anaheim peppers stuffed with a hot and tangy spice mix and pickled with mustard oil.

My grandmother used to bring dried raw mangoes from the village which was actually dried when the raw mangoes were in surplus, we had mango orchards back home. Raw mangoes were peeled and cut into 4 parts with the stone, just discarding the inner seed, then it was dried and preserved for the whole year. The raw mangoes sun dried this way are called 'aam ki kaliyan' as it has a bud like appearance after drying. It is still available in some wholesale markets and some people buy it to get pure amchoor at home. Mangoes dried in this way was pounded in mortar and pestle to get amchoor powder, it was really labor intensive and the powder was a bit darker in color due to slow drying of the thick cut mango pieces, and the amchoor was not very fine.

Thankfully I found a better way to make my own amchoor powder.

A part of my brain belongs to my grandmother's generation and I am the only person from my whole extended family who tries to do such things at home in these modern times ...still.....

I make amchoor powder at home simply because the store bought one is not good enough. You will see the difference once you make it at home. I make a wet preserve of raw mangoes too for different recipes, especially chutneys and pickles, and will post later about that.

Making this powder is not at all labor intensive if you make a small quantity. A tiny quantity of this homemade powder lasts long as it is quite intense. I usually make powder of about a kilo of raw mangoes which yields about a cup of amchoor powder and this, to your surprise, is equivalent to 4 packs (100 gm) of amchoor powder.

This quantity lasts the whole year in my kitchen and if you need more than this you can conveniently make it twice. It will be easier to handle and grind in smaller quantities.

This time I took just 500 gm of raw mangoes as my previous year amchoor had finished and I needed some for the chhole I was so craving. Yes making this amchoor is that easy especially in this Indian summer heat when the sun drying was done within a day due to very hot sun. Fast drying the raw mangoes gets you lighter colored amchoor and is convenient as you have to sundry it just for a day. Or may be 2 days of north Indian summer sun.

See how do I do it. 

Using a potato peeler peel the green skin of mangoes and discard the peels.

Now using the same potato peeler, work on the white flesh and peel strips of mango flesh. I used 4 large mangoes and it took about 15 minutes. Discard the stone.

Keep the strips in a sieve or a shallow basket and sun dry till the strips get completely dry, you may want to turn the strips in between for faster drying and to prevent the thin strips from sticking together. It will look like chips and will sound crisp after drying.

Crush the sun dried strips of raw mango by hands and stuff it all into the grinder of your mixie and whiz n zap.

Fresh amchoor powder is ready.

Use this home made amchoor powder carefully. You need only 1/4 the amount as compared to the store bought one.

Isn't it easy and quick? It takes only 15 minutes to peel and a minute to grind in the mixie. And if you cannot sundry the strips like me I'll tell you another way to dry it. Only if you ask me.

And now the chhole I had been so craving for that I made the amchoor on a whim. Yes, normally I make the amchoor when the raw mangoes are a bit cheaper but this time it was bought for Rs.100 a kilo. Not regretting the expensive mangoes at all.

This is the quickest version of chhole I make and it is such a simplistic recipe that you can have chhole kulche even for a breakfast, or for your lunch box. It uses minimal spices and even lesser processing.

ingredients...

to be boiled into a pressure cooker ...
kabuli chana (garbanzo beans) soaked overnight 3 cups
chana daal (split chickpeas) 2 tbsp (this is the trick to make the chhole with a thick n dryish gravy
water 2 cups
salt to taste 

for tempering ..
mustard oil 1 tsp
everyday curry masala powder
or a mix or coriander, cumin, black pepper and bay leaf powders in 2:1:1:1 ratio
red chilly powder 1-2 tsp according to taste

for finishing..
amchoor powder 1 tsp or according to taste
green coriander leaves chopped (optional) Or mint powder


procedure...

Boil the first set of ingredients in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes after the pressure builds up. Or till the chick peas are very soft but not mushy ....

Heat oil in a tadka pan and dunk in all the powders and immediately remove from fire. Mix well and pour into the boiled chickpeas...

Sprinkle amchoor and coriander leaves or mint powder (or both) and mix well so that the chana daal is mushed up and the chickpeas get coated with a thick slurry. Deliciousness.

Serve hot as you like it.

I can have it as it is. Its great as a chaat served with some paapdi and a topping of chutneys, or with baked or fried kulche. With poori too...

Enjoy...

mango chhunda

This is the most uncomplicated recipe of a finger licking preserve made of raw mangoes. Tart raw mango slivers preserved in sugar syrup is what we know as aam ka chhunda or kasse aam ka khatta meetha achar.

Small quantity of mango chhunda can be made in a microwave within minutes, including chopping/grating and cleaning the utensils. yes it is so uncomplicated.

It has been almost 2 months since I made this aam ka chhunda and the mango loaf, both paired so well together that now I will always think of these two recipes together.

I actually serve aam ka chhunda with everything and anything, from parathas to matthis, with multigrain breads or sandwiched between two digestive biscuits. You go by your imagination and you will never fail with mango chhunda. Even a plain aatte ka meetha cheela tastes really good with aam ka chhunda.

To make it more versatile I keep the preserve mildly spiced. One can always add spices like saffron and cardamom or crushed fennel seeds, or a mixture of fenugreek, fennel and red chillies in the last stage of cooking when a stronger spice level is desired.

I prefer flavoring the mango chhunda when needed accordingly, just sprinkle a pinch of required spices with a dash of water and microwave the quantity you need to use immediately, or cook in a small pan over gas stove, even the tadka pan works well. This way you can get any flavor as per choice or serve it plain with some strongly flavored dish. Like you can top the dhaniye wali matthi with a tbsp of plain chhunda.

The preparation is simple s I mentioned, just grate the raw mangoes in a box grater or chop into thin slivers.

Now throw in sugar into the chopped or grated mangoes, let it rest for a couple of hours and cook on very low flame till the mixture starts looking translucent. You can add a little water if you want the chhunda to be a little syrupy.  y

You need about 800 gm of sugar or jaggery for a kilo of mangoes and 100 ml of water to start with.

Mix it all well and wait for half an hour, till the mango slivers exude most of their water.

Now heat this mixture on low flame and keep stirring. It takes about 40 minutes or more to get cooked.

To know whether the chhunda is done, you have to lift the spatula above the cooking mixture, the same spatula you are using for stirring. When the sugar syrup falls in two thin streams, (a third stream is good to get if you want the preserve to be almost dry) it means your chhunda is ready. This is essential for its long term preservation (this is called do taar or teen taar ki chashni in Hindi).

When you are making a small quantity to be consumed within a few days or to be kept in the fridge, the sugar syrup should fall in a single thin stream, your chhunda would be syrupy and thin.

You know you can make the consistency as you like it.

The light colored mango chhunda on the left is made with sugar, the peeled raw mango is chopped thinly in julienne and there is no spice used to flavor it.The dark colored mango chhunda on the right is made with jaggery, lightly spiced with a hint of red chilli and garam masala, the raw mangoes grated to make it a little homogeneous. Both the variants taste great and can be used differently.

Gujratis call this relish as keri no chhundo and serve it with their bhakhris and theplas.

Here is the mango chhunda, made with sugar and without any spice, with my mango loaf...

Kachhe aam ka chhunda is an essential relish to be stocked for the whole year in many families. My mom used to make it when we were kids, obviously because it was in high demand. She doesn't make the chhunda anymore as all of us siblings have started making it and sharing our pickles and preserves too.

Make the aam ka chhunda and see how it flies off the pickle shelf.

aam ka achar (raw mango pickle)

Any Indian home cannot do without pickles called as achar and aam ka achar is the king of all achars. Call it mango pickle or kairi achar, this is the one pickle which makes you salivate at the thought.

All our memories of train journeys and school lunch boxes are redolent with aam ka achar, duly stained with the turmeric and spice infused oil.

This particular aam ka achar is a UP specialty which is served with parathas, puris or just anything depending on your imagination. My version is a little different as it has large quantity of masala, almost like a gravy. The masala itself is so tasty that you don't need the mango pieces sometimes, the reason why I make more masala for the quantity of raw mangoes.

Also the masala comes handy sometimes as a salad dressing, or for making some achari veggies or stuffed okra or stuffed karela too. So the extra dose of masala is very useful here and I shall post some of the achari masala recipes in future.

My version of aam ka achar is different in one more respect, that it does not require exposure to sunlight, as is done traditionally. The color and texture of the achar remains as such for 2 years though it does not last that long in my household. There are many takers for this achar and it reaches the dining table of many of my friends.

Clearly my masala to mango ratio is more than normal and you can make double the quantity of achar in the same quantity of masala if you like your achar pieces more than the masala.

masala required...
( for 4 kg of mangoes)

yellow mustard seeds ground coarsely 200 gm

whole red chilies dried and ground coarsely 200 gm

fenugreek seeds or methi ground coarsely 150 gm

fennel seeds or moti saunf ground coarsely 200 gm

bishops weed or ajwain seeds pounded coarsely 100 gm 
mangrail, kalonji or onion seeds pounded coarely 100 gm

pure crystalline (resin) asafoetida 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder 200 gm
salt 750 gm
mustard oil 1.5 L

the preparation of the achar can be divided in 5 steps.
1. rinsing and chopping the raw mangoes (this is the most laborious work as the mango seeds should be hard and that makes it really tough to cut them. Use a really good knife or old fashioned cleavers)
2. masala preparation and sterilization of jars
3. marination of mango pieces
4. mixing the first masala, ie, chilly and mustard
5. tadka and filling the jars

step 1. Masalas should be prepared before hand or they can be prepared after the marination step. Also the glass jars used to store the achar should be washed well with detergent, dried in the microwave and rinsed with white vinegar before the tadka stage.

step 2 and 3. First of all cut the raw firm mangoes in serving size pieces and mix with turmeric powder and salt. This will lead to marination and the mango pieces will release water.

Let it rest for 24 hrs or till it becomes watery as the mangoes release all their water.

At this point it looks like the mango pieces are drowned in the thick yellow slurry.

In fact 24 -36 hrs is enough time for this but sometimes I leave it as such for 3-4 days when I don't get time to proceed. There is no harm in it, just keep stirring the mixture once a day.

Step 4. You can mix the mustard powder and chilli powder in the marinated raw mango pieces and proceeds for step 5 or the mustard and chilli powders can be added just after the tadka. The idea is not to cook the mustard powder and chilli powder so the colour remains good, flavours intact.

step 5. Finally heat the oil in a large pan/kadhai heat thoroughly and throw in the asafoetida and let it get dispersed (it tends to fluff up first and then disperses into the oil).

Then add the methi powder, fennel powder and ajwain and kalonji powders in this order and as the masalas disperse quickly in the oil, take the kadhai off the gas.

Now immediately pour in the achar mixture in to the kadhai and mix well till it looks like this.

After mixing the achar, it becomes cold enough to handle.

Now fill the achar in sterilized jars, take care not to leave any air spaces in the jar. For this you need to slightly tap the jar against kitchen platform so that the achar settles down nicely leaving no air spaces.

You will see the oil coming on top of the jar in a thin layer. Top up with a little more mustard oil if the surface doesn't gets coated with oil naturally.

Keep the jar open till it reaches room temperature and then close the lid and keep it safe in your cupboard. No need to keep in the sun. Not at all.

The achar will be ready to eat within a week and you can enjoy the same texture throughout the year. Trust me.

This aam ka achar stays as is for 2 years and doesn't get mushy at all. The colour also remains the same.

aam malai | a mango and cream dessrt

now this one dish is special to banaras as mangoes of banaras are quite famous and we eat mangoes in many ways..........n keep finding new ways to eat'em..........aam malai is something like a perfect comfert food for all of us siblings and arvind is kind of addicted to it.........he loves sweet dishes n this is one creamy n flavorful dish.....no cooking involved, just 3 ingredients and it takes just 5 minutes to chop the mangoes to make it...........chill n serve........great for big get togethers as i have always found that this dish becomes a central talking point as soon as it is served...........i am more happy to serve it cuz it is quick n easy n brings me lots of praises ....everytime, without fail..............it is a high calorie dessert ( arvind can have it for all meals ) and you can limit the portion size , though it is almost impossible to do that......

for making it ..just chop the ripe n aromatic mangoes ( alphonso, or langra in india are the best suited..any lavorful variety is good for this) into neat cubes.....i used alphonso this time.

add 3-4 tbsp of sugar to 2 cups of chopped mangoes n let it sit for 5 minutes till the juices of mango come out....lightly mash with the back of a spoon if you like it more gooyi or runny

now add a cup of heavy cream or fresh malai( fresh cream skimmed off from fullcream milk kept in the fridge).........mix well n chill ..if you want a thicker dish , whip the cream before folding lightly into the mango mixture.........i like it with malai and a bit runny cuz this is the way i have eaten it right from my childhood.

i make low fat versions of this dish too n will post those on my healthy food blog soon..........till then enjoy this........