Rediscovering homemade mango pickles 

Summer's when mango is in season and these self-taught home chefs are offering some piquant mango pickles and spreads
Rediscovering homemade mango pickles 

It is something you find in every household. From the fiery red avakkai pickle of the south to the Gujarati marmalade-like chhundo, the mango pickle, if not anything, is one of the most versatile. The art of pickling, most will agree, is a communal process — conjuring up images of the women in the house gathering together, cutting up mangoes in various shapes and sizes, while the children are assigned the task of spreading them out on the terrace or the courtyard to dry. For those looking for homemade authentic, preservative-free options, often with stories behind it, we recommend these brands.

No kidding around
Fouziya Kutty and Abdul Taher established a range of handmade and natural products of jams and pickles back in 2015, and their lime-and-date pickle was an instant hit. Cashing in on the mango season, they offer a mango pickle (Rs200 for 200 gms) too. A Maharashtrian recipe (Fouziya is from Maharashtra) with a twist from Orissa (she picked up tips from her husband Abdul’s sisters, who are from Odisha), the pickle is entirely sun-baked over a period of 12 days. But what we recommend is their hot mango spread (Rs200 for 225 gms), which Abdul describes as “an adult flavour”. Essentially a spread of assorted ripe Indian mangoes and organic dried red chilli, the dish is inspired by Europe’s famous hot strawberry spread and is best eaten with bread or rotis. Apart from these, Fouziya also offers an organic mango spread (Rs200 for 225 gms), which is 70 per cent fruit and only 30 per cent sugar.
Details: 9841063408, facebook.com/Fouziyas-cooking

From grandma’s kitchen
Every jar of homemade pickle holds in it a tried-and-tested family recipe and that is what Sheela Subramaniam’s  Paati’s Kaimanam (started in September 2016), a tribute to her grandmother, offers. This season she’s door delivering three kinds of mango pickles – the vadumanga (Rs120 for 300 gms), the avakkai (`80 for 200 gms) and the thokku (Rs50 for 100 gms). Boasting of ingredients like cold-press oil, Himalayan pink salt, and hand-pounded chillis and mustard, it is not surprising that she has sold over 200 bottles of pickles over the last two months. 
Details: 9042080916, facebook.com/paatiskaimanam

Homemade holla!
Sourced from the kitchens of 10 home cooks, Joseph Jacob’s Kochi-based online portal, Wow Homemade, offers more than 70 curated products. Everything, including piquant sun-dried mango pickles, is prepared—in small batches to ensure freshness—with organic ingredients. “Keeping up with the season’s mango fever, we are also planning to introduce local delicacies like mango thera, a sweet dish made of sun-dried layers of mango pulp spread in fragrant screwpine leaves, in the coming weeks,” shares Jospeh. Products from Rs100 onwards. Details: wowhomemade.com

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