Kancha Aamer Ambol ar Chaatni

Aam er Ambol | Aam er Chaatni

Aam er Ambol or Aam er Tok -- a subtly sweet, more tangy, light and soupy broth-- is a Bengali dish made with green, unripe mangoes in the peak of summer and usually served as a coolant at the end of a meal or along with the meal. It is a little different from the Bengali Mango Chutney which is also made with green, raw mangoes but is  sweeter and thicker in consistency.

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Green Mango Chutney to tickle your taste buds if the name hasn’t already. This recipe was long due considering we have it pretty often but as Chandrika said the pics never got taken. Need I say in not so many words I simply love this Ambol & Chutney.

As I said in an earlier post a traditional Bengali meal usually consists of five to six courses, starting off with something bitter and ending with a sweet dessert. The fifth course served just prior to the dessert is the sweet & sour ambol or chutney.

The chutney (pronounced cha-a-tni in Bengali) in Bengal is not the chutney, sold in jars in the Asian/Indian Aisle of your SuperMarket and hugely popular in the Western World . The Chutney as we have it in a Bengali household is almost always prepared fresh and is eaten as a course of a lunch or a dinner to accent the meal and not as a relish or as a dip. It is the pickle which is preserved for later day use.

Different regions in India specialize in the ingredients they use for their chutneys and Bengal specializes in Chutney made with fruits like raw mango, tomato, pineapple, papaya etc. Also since fish is a part of an everyday Bengali meal, chutney or ambol made with fish specially the head of Hilsa is also pretty popular. My Dida (maternal grandma ) would make this amazing chutney with head of hilsa and tamarind which she called “macher tak” . Another fellow blogger SpiceandCurry talks about ambol made with fish roe fritters here

As I already said I love all sorts of chutneys, tomato chutney and mango chutney being my favorites. I remember when I first started school in one of the hill stations of West Bengal and would be very miserable with the whole school thing, the bright spot of the day would be my Ma or the help at home arriving with my lunch which almost every day would be Rice, Chanar Dalna (Paneer in a light gravy) & Tomato Chutney. The spoonfuls of Tomato Chutney mixed with Rice (ok, that’s not the norm, that’s not how a decent Bengali should eat his chutney) would make my day. Instead of relegating Chutney to a position towards the end of the meal, I almost always start with it.

And my little daughter loves Chutney too. She calls it “Chantinge” and used to love it even a couple of months back, Now she is becoming more opinionated and has taken a fancy to eating ketchup, that too by itself. I sincerely hope she gets hooked on to my dear chutney again.
Difference between Ambol and Chaatni: The ambol is very light and is like a soup, the emphasis is more on the sourness. The chaatni is thick and is usually more sweet.

Aam er Ambol | Aam er Chaatni

What You Need

For Ambol

Raw Mango ~ 1 Green raw Mango, peeled and cut into long strips
Black Mustard Seeds ~ 1/2 tsp for phoron or tempering

Yellow Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp for phoron or tempering
Dry Red Chilli - 2

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Sugar ~ according to taste (1/2 Cup for a sour broth and 1 Cup for sweeter)
Salt


For Chaatni

Raw Mango ~ 1 cut into pieces as shown in pic
Mustard Seed ~ 1/2 tsp for phoron or tempering
Dry Red Chillies ~ 2

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Panch Puran ~ dry roasted and ground to a powder 1/2 tsp of the powder

Sugar ~ 1 Cup or more
Salt


How I Do It

Ambol

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

Chop them up. Usually they are chopped longitudinally for ambol and cubed for chutney.

Heat Mustard Oil in Kadhai/Frying Pan
Add Black and Yellow Mustard seeds and the Dry Red Chili.

As soon as the mustard seeds start sputtering , add the chopped mangoes
Add Turmeric powder and sauté the mangoes for 3-4 minutes

The mangoes will take on a nice yellow because of the turmeric

Add salt and about 2 Cups of water. Water should be enough to submerge the mangoes.
Mix and cover and cook till mangoes are done.

Add sugar according to your desired level of sweetness or as suggested. Add sugar only when mangoes are almost cooked.
Boil for a couple more minutes and you are done.
The consistency should be like a light soup and the mangoes should be soft

Chaatni

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

Chop them up in small pieces as in the pic

Heat Mustard Oil in Kadai/Frying Pan
Add Mustard seeds and Dry Red Chili

As soon as the mustard seeds start sputtering , add the chopped mangoes
Add  Turmeric powder and sauté the mangoes
The mangoes will turn a nice yellow because of the turmeric and will also soften a little.

Add salt and about 1 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 done. With the spatula check to see if the mangoes are cooked to softness.

Add sugar according to your desired level of sweetness. About 1 Cup of sugar for 1 Mango. If mangi is not sour enough then add less sugar.
Cook and Reduce the water till you get a thick consistency.
Roast the PaanchPhoron in a skillet and dry grind it. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of this powder on the chaatni.

According to this source unripe green mangoes are beneficial in the treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders. Eating one or two small tender mangoes in which the seed is not fully formed with salt and honey is found to be very effective medicine for summer diarrhea, dysentery, piles, morning sickness, chronic dyspepsia, indigestion and constipation.
The green mango is valuable in blood disorders because of its high vitamin C content.

I so wanted to send this out to Kalyn yesterday but Blogger misbehaved. So am sending this to WHB for this week hosted by SwankCaterers.
Trivia:The mango is in the same family as poison ivy and contains urushiol, though much less than poison ivy.