Andhra Avakaya / Andhra mango Pickle

'Avakaya' the word itself makes me drool . Every day in my lunch the first thing i wish to have is avakaya. My mom makes different pickles with mango and i just love them all . She makes avakaya(plain mango pickle) , allam avakaya (ginger garlic pickle) , palli avakaya(peanut mango pickle) , kobbari avakaya(coconut mango pickle) , nuvvula avakaya(sesemam mango pickle) and pesara avakaya (moongdal mango pickle) .I just love all these versions . I will show u all these delicious pickles in coming posts. But when we r in abroad away from home it is little bit difficult to carry all these pickles along with us . So i thought it is better to make our own pickle when all the ingredients are handy . We get raw mangoes all over the year and all other ingredients we normally have at our homes . I never thought that making avakaya is this easy , frds i tell u just give a try and u will only understand how easy it is and it gives self satisfaction .

Ingredients Required:-

Raw mango :1
salt:3tbspns
chilly powder:4 tbspns
Fenugreek powder :1tspn
Mustard powder :4Tbspns
Fenugreek seeds: 3/4tspn
Oil:8Tbspns or 1/2 cup (better to use sesemam oil if doing in large quantity if not u can use any other cooking oil but preheat it and cool it )


Procedure:-

• Try to select a raw green mango , as soon as u get try to do this pickle . Donot refrigerate mango since it gets ripe quickly.
• Wash it and wipe it dry.
• Chop the mango into pieces . Normally when we make avakaya we put the seed intact while chopping .Doing like this will preserve the mango piece from not getting soft and soggy . But it requires a special sharp knife but when we are making in small quantities that lasts for few days it is better not to take risk of cutting mngo with seed intact. So chop it normally. Try to use a dry knife.
• Grind 3 tbspns of mustard seeds in a coffe grinder that u use for spices grinding or in a regular mixer. So after grinding the powder becomes nearly 4tbspns.
• Take a dry bowl and in it take chilly powder , salt , fenugreek powder , mustard powder and fenugreek seeds. Mix them nicely.
• Take mango pieces in a big bowl .
• To this mango pieces add raw sesemam oil and mix nicely. (use a dry spoon and if using some other cooking oil heat it and cool it and then u can add it)
• To this pieces add mixed spices that we took in a bowl. Give a good mix and put a tight lid and store it in a dry place for 48hrs .
• After 2days has completed take that bowl and give a good mix . Now u can observe the pickle gravy is almost doubled . It is just because mango oozes out lot of moisture.
• Transfer the pickle into a air tight bottle . Delicious andhra avakaya is ready to eat .
• Serve it with hot rice and ghee. If u like u can even have it with plain dal.(My favourite Combo)