Happy Vishu to all my friends and readers !!!
I was reading an article on Vishu (and the dishes made for Vishu) in a Malayalam newspaper yesterday. It was a trip down the memory lane for me. Idichakka thoran (mashed breadfruit stir fry), chakka erissery (jackfruit cooked with coconut and black pepper), kani vellarikka pachady (cucumber salad with yogurt and coconut), chakka pradhaman (jackfruit payasam), mambazha pulissery (mango cooked with coconut and yogurt) ... all watering my mouth and tearing my eyes, and I could smell the wonderful aroma at the same time. Those simple pleasures in life..., It was a great nostalgic feeling.
Mambazha pulliseri is a favorite for all of us. So, here is my version of 'mambazha pulissery' made with the Guatemalan mangoes that I get in this part of the world.
Ingredients:
- Ripe mango - 1 large
- Water - 1 cup
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Sea Salt -as per taste
- Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
- Organic homemade yogurt - 2 cups
- Green chilly - 2-3
- Cumin seeds -1 tsp
- For optional tempering:
- Virgin coconut oil - 1 tsp
- Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Red chilly - 1
- Skin the mango, remove the seed and cut into small bite size pieces.
- Start cooking with 1 cup of water, turmeric and salt.
- While mango is being cooked, grind, coconut, cumin seeds, green chilly into a very fine paste, add the yogurt to the mix and whip all together.
- Once the mango is cooked and about half of the liquid is reduced (in about 8-10 minutes) add the coconut yogurt mix and reduce flame to low.
- Continue cooking on low flame for 5-6 more minutes, stirring frequently so that it does not boil or curdle up.
- Remove from flame and wait for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Optional tempering - heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chilly, when mustard seeds pop and fenugreek seeds are slightly red, garnish over the pulissery. If you are not used to Indian cooking, do take care, keep everything ready by your side and keep a lid handy so that you don't have popped mustard seeds all over your stove top :-)
