The Raw Mango Pickle From Your Childhood
We're running mango recipes all this month! This week, Chef Hussain Shahzad of O Pedro, Mumbai, shares a twist on his grandmother's recipe for Raw Mango Water Pickle. Come back next week for another traditional mango dish from a chef we know and love.
I grew up eating this in the summers at my grandma's place. It is a very subtle pickle which I'd never tasted until I started researching on the concept for O Pedro. One morning at the Mapusa Friday market, I came across a lady selling small mangoes in a bottle with water. Tasting that at the market was a nostalgic moment that took me back to the summer lunches at my grandma's place. This pickle with a few tweaks now finds its way into the Red Snapper Poke at O Pedro.
Raw Mango Water Pickle
Ingredients
1kg unripe alfonso mangoes
1 cup onion, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
4 green chillies, slit
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 cups bottled packaged drinking water
4 tbsp salt
Method
Chop the raw mangoes into medium dices leaving the skin on.
In a large mixing bowl add the sliced onions, ginger, slit chillies, cumin seeds, smashed garlic and diced mango.
Make brine by dissolving the salt in 4 cups of packaged drinking water.
Pour the brine over the mango and onion mix in the mixing bowl.
Wash a large jar it in hot water and wipe it completely dry.
Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl into the jar and top it with the brine.
Make sure the mangoes are covered with the brine.
Secure the lid and store at room temperature for 24-36 hours. At this point you will see bubbles on the surface of the brine. Unscrew the lid and let some of the gas escape.
Taste the mango for sourness — if you would like it tangier, let the jar sit out for 12 more hours. If not, move the pickle to the refrigerator.
The pickle will keep for a couple of months.
Note: Be sure to wear disposable kitchen gloves while handling the ingredients at all stages.
Chef Hussain Shahzad is the Executive Chef at O Pedro, Mumbai. You can follow his culinary adventures here.
Image credit Food52; Banner image Ruchik Randhap.
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