Festival food in Kerala (and also Thamizh Nadu, I suspect) is incomplete without this pickle. It is so easy to prepare that many households make this even on non-festive days. It tastes delicious, especially with the iconic South Indian curd (unflavoured yogurt) rice. Many people swear that there is no greater elixir – and I tend to agree with them. I had not made this pickle for several years (after I turned vegan) as I had forsaken the traditional curd make of dairy milk. Over the years, however, Hari and I have, over the years, modified the peanut/rice milk curd to come really close to the ‘traditional’ curd made of dairy milk. For Onam (a major festival of Kerala) this year, I therefore decided that the instant mango pickle was a must. Having it with curd rice was indeed heaven and brought a flood of memories. Lest you get me wrong, you can accompany this pickle with all kinds of food – it is just that South Indians love it with curd rice.

Ingredients
1 raw mango, washed and cut into very small pieces (no need to peel)
1 tsp red chilli powder
A generous pinch of turmeric powder (haldi powder, manjal podi)
2 pinches of asafoetida (hing, perunkayam)
2 pinches of roasted fenugreek (methi dhana, venthiyam) powder
Salt to taste
For The Seasoning
3/4 tsp mustard seeds (sarson, kadugu)
1/8th tsp of asafoetida
Method
Place the chopped mango in a bowl
Set aside
Heat a wok and add mustard seeds and asafoetida (mentioned under ‘Seasoning’)
When the mustard seeds begin to splutter, switch off flame and add the fenugreek powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder
Mix well
Add salt and asafoetida powder
Add the chopped mango
Mix again
Serve with your favourite food to give it a zing
Enjoy!