Aam ka Jhol: A Monsoon Mango Dish from Bareilly

Vaydehi Khandelwal offers a glimpse into her family’s monsoon ritual, making aam ka jhol.

As June approaches, our eyes search the market for the season’s small yellow-skinned mangoes, popularly known as mithua or gaurjeet. These are a lesser-known heirloom variety of mango.

The Khandelwals are part of the Baniya community, who over the centuries earned their living through trade and money lending. Our diet and food habits have evolved over time, but some things have remained unchanged. Come the monsoon, most Khandelwal families will make an aam ki sabzi or aam ka jhol. It is a lovely dish, to be had with missi roti or besan roti. The sweet and tangy flavours work beautifully with the heat of green chillies.

RECIPE FOR AAM KA JHOL

Ingredients

One mango per person, plus three extra
6 green chillies, cut fine
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp hing
Pinch of haldi
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Sugar, to taste
Grated ginger
Three pudina leaves

Method
Peel the mangoes. In a bowl, squish the pulp with your hands so you have the juices plus the seeds have a layer of flesh too.
In a kadhai, add desi ghee or refined oil.
Throw in the jeera and hing. Once this splutters add the haldi, chilli powder, and a dash of water.
Then add the green chillies, the mango seeds and pulp and three to four cups of water.
Add salt and let it simmer over a low flame stirring now and then.
After about five minutes, increase the flame, add some grated ginger, coriander and sugar.
At the end, add finely chopped pudina.
Serve hot with the rotis and a nice spicy raw mango green chilli chutney.

Vaydehi Khandelwal is part of the mother-daughter duo, ANUcanCOOK, a food collective from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.

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