Monday, June 13, 2011

Kancha Aamer Chaatni -- Mango Chutney

AamerChuntey1

Remember my rant about nail paints some weeks back ? Remember me as the Mom who does not like kids to indulge in such pleasures ?

Well, after a long, long time I went for a pediacure last week. Other than work, I don't go out much without the kids so these ventures are very notable in my life.To achieve the said task, I went to work an hour early and then left an hour early so that in spite of my detour I could be back home in regular time.(I am okay if the Dad is home but in this case he was traveling). And then at the salon I could not enjoy my solitude and kept thinking of how I could have used up this hour at home instead. Talk of the perils of a working Mom.

Now either the salon people were very very diligent or my feet really needed work because even after 45 whole minutes I was sitting there having a hard time relaxing while this young girl kept rubbing one thing or the other on my feet and attempting small talk. Finally, while she tickled my toes with gooey aloe-vera, I had to tell her to hasten the process so that I could go home. Only, I did not say "go home", I said I had an important appointment, as if.

The young Chinese girl was very affected by my suggestion. She kept saying I should relax and enjoy but clearly those things were going above my head. As soon as she finished with the nail paint I scooped my bag, paid and ran, ignoring suggestion to sit and let the nails dry.

The moment I reach home, what do my two girls notice ? Ta-Da my toe nails. And they don't take it well. They keep asking about the garish pink nail color and why I didn't bring it along. They want their nails painted the same garish pink nail color.

I don't want to indulge and so I say "You can paint your nails when you are big".

The little one jumps at this prospect hoping to become B..I..G the next day and thanks me profusely.

The older one asks, "Big as in college ?"

I say, "Yeah".

She says, "By that time you will be old". This one forever seeks pleasure in my turning old.

I say, "So?"

She says, "If you are old, you will not be able to enjoy my nail colors. So don't you think you would like to see them now"

Me, "Yeah, Good try"


AamChaatni1

The green mango chutney or the kaancha aamer chaatni is something I adore. I have blogged about it here with full explanation. Here is a quick recap.

Wash and roughly peel 1 raw green mango. You don’t have to take out the peel very smoothly

Chop them up in small pieces(cubes)

Heat Mustard Oil in Kadai/Frying Pan

Add 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds and 1 Dry Red Chilli. The mustard seeds will sputter and dance so use a splatter screen.

As soon as the mustard seeds start sputtering , add the chopped mangoes

Add a pinch of turmeric powder and sauté the mangoes

Saute till the mangoes turn a nice yellow because of the turmeric and soften a little.

Add salt and about 1-2 Cup water. Water should be enough to cook the mangoes. The chaatni should be thick and so add water moderately

Mix and cover and cook till mangoes are almost done. With the spatula check to see if the mangoes have softened.

Add about 2/3 Cup of sugar and mix well. Bengali chutneys are usually sweeter and so a little more sugar might be added if desired.Add a little more water.

Cook and reduce the water till you get a thick consistency and the mangoes are soft but not mashed up.

Roast about 1 tsp of panch puran/paanch phoron till you get a nice aroma, cool and dry grind it. Sprinkle this powder on the chaatni. More on Paanch Phoron.

Note: There are small variations to this which you can try.

1.Use Jaggery instead of sugar.

2. Instead of Paanch Phoron Powder use Bhaja Masala.

3. Instead of Paanch Phoron powder, roast Cumin seeds and Dry red chili, cool, grind to a powder. Sprinkle that on top. Thanks to Ushnish Da  for reminding.

4. You can use raisins in the chutney along with the mangoes. Sra says she likes that.

5. Add more water and cook mangoes till soft but not at all mashed up so that the chaatni is more liquid with pieces of mango


AamChaatni2

Roasting couple of Dry Red Chili on fire for Bhaja Masla #3.

25 comments:

  1. Absolutely love it, delicious :)

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  2. Chutney looks tangy and delicious..

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  3. lol .... luved the last part of the conversation wit the lil ones. Smart huh !!

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  4. Chutney looks delicious Sandeepa.

    Second guessing has become our second nature!

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  5. Dear Sandeepa
    Reading your pedicure expedition made me forget the great taste (??) of half burnt, cold toast and luke warm tea for breakfast. Great treat ( I mean your posting and not the toast) for a lazy Tuesday morning. All days are lazy anyway , as I am not working!.
    I like this spice combo. I have never used roasted panch phodon before. Normally I put a Orissa style panch phodon , sukno lanka sombora, ada bata and in other one sorshe sombora with roasted jeere lanka powder at the end.
    Now let me try your recipe before the raw mangoes vanish from the market.
    Have a great day ( tomorrow)
    Bhalo theko
    Ushnishda

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  6. This sounds totally tongue tickling..looks yum

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  7. "Hard time Relaxing" - is it ? L-o-v-e-d the expression. Even I'm not game for little girls wearing make-up and the South Indian mothers in my neighbourhood who just love to do their daughters up irks me no-end!
    Chutney looks delicious...maybe you'll be the inspiration behind my starting to relish chutneys!

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  8. Sandeepa: The "new" models are so much smarter, right?
    Nice story..know the feeling..."working moms" can NEVER relax!
    ;-)
    dayeeta
    http://dayeetasworld.blogspot.com/

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  9. Ha ha, your kids are clever! I liked your addition of raisins (not referring to ths recipe).

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  10. i love a good aamer chaatni..used to have bhaar fulls of them after poojo lunches

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  11. Love the cute stories about your little girls. My 9 year old also love having her nail painted, especially with unusual colors and i try to indulge her when i can. Thanks for sharing these stories with us.

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  12. Clever kids but not as clever as mom. I know how hard it is to enjoy small pleasures without worrying about the kids but hopefully, we will get there one day. :)

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  13. This is such a staple thing at my home all year round. Mine is slightly different. My phoron is with paanch phoron in mustard oil and like you mentioned I garnish it with bhaja masala. Tried it with gur once, we prefer the sugared version.

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  14. Yum! Love the flavor of panch phoran :)

    S @ http://totefullofveggies.blogspot.com

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  15. Hi, is it possible for you to post Jalpai -er chutney recipe?

    Thanks!

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  16. Moushumi

    I don't know how to make jalpai chaatni, heck I don't even get Jalpai so that I could try :(

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  17. Have the same conv with my girl every single time...

    So much like our mangai pachadi which I love as well.
    Just had the tomato chutney which my Bong friend made especially for my birthday last week.

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  18. I stumbled upon Jalpai at a Bangladeshi store in Dallas(frozen section). Hope you find some too to try out and then post a recipe :). BTW, wonder if green olives would work the same?

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  19. Hey Sandeepa,
    Did you ever try the same chatni without oil. I love that taste better :)
    B

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  20. I just made this and it came out very well. Since I dint have panch photon, I added jeera powder and a little garam masala powder. Used jaggery instead of sugar and it is very good.
    Thanks for the recipe.

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  21. Made this chutney just now and it's simply awesome ... Thanks for the recepie...

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  22. Loved ur recipe ..hav 2 raw mangoes in d kitchen so thought of trying this bong version Amer chatni...btw i am not usually into commenting probably d 1st of my comment strts frm ur blog and ur conversation wid ur lill one made me laugh at d point where u r speaking loud to urself " this one forever seeks pleasure in turning me old" am laughing at still while typing my comment. Keep uo d gud wrk n hats off to u tht u r able to manage blogging being a wrkng mum of 2 lill angels. Happy cooking n motherhood.

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