Ambe Upkari ( Ripe mangoes in a hot & sweet sauce)

While mango season is over in India, here in the United States, we still get fresh mangoes. I love mangoes! When I was little, we used to pluck mangoes from the trees in our yard and eat them. We had atleast 7 varieties. We still have mango trees. I miss them..

Ambe upkari is a traditional konkani dish. It is usually made using ripe mangoes that are sour and cannot be eaten as is! Hence, it is cooked in a hot and sweet sauce. The net result is an explosion of sweet, sour and hot flavors in your mouth, causing it to be an unique and satisfying experience.

This is a very easy dish to make and is usually made for a festive occasion.  The month of Shraavan, hails the beginning of festivals in India. Shraavan is considered the holy month in India and many people observe fasting of varying degrees throughout the month. Today is Varamahalkashmi Vrata, where in prayers are held in the honor of Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, seeking prosperity.

Let us now check out the recipe.

Servings: 6

Prep time: 10 minsCook time: 20 minsTotal time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Ripe, sour mangoes: 6, medium-sized
Water: 6 cups + 1 cup
Jaggery: 1 cup ( can use brown sugar/palm sugar/date sugar)
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Green chillies: 4, slit ( number of green chillies can be adjusted as per individual desired spice level)
Flour: 1 tbsp

For tempering:
Coconut oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Dried Red chillies: 2 nos, broken into 2 pieces

Method:

Wash the mangoes thoroughly. Peel each mango using your hands and not the peeler. Put the mango seed with pulp intact into a pot.

Put the peels in another pot. Add 6 cups water to the pot with the peel. Using your fingers, remove any remaining pulp from the peel. Now strain the peel and the water to the pot with the seed and pulp. Discard the peel now.

Add salt, jaggery, slit green chillies and boil it on medium high flame for 10-15 mins.

While the mixture is boiling, mix 1 tbsp flour in 1 cup water until homogeneous. Add this to the boiling mixture. Reduce the flame to low and cook it for another 5-7 minutes, stirring intermittently, until the sauce has thickened. Be careful not to let it burn.

If the sauce is too less, you can add a  little more water. It thickens upon cooling.

Turn off the flame.

In a small frying pan or tadka pan, heat coconut oil and mustard seeds on medium flame. Once all the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and broken red chillies. Immediately turn off the flame.

Add this tempering to the pot.

Serve hot!

Enjoy! I am  bringing this to Throwback Thursday #50, Fiesta Friday #132 and Saucy Saturday#57! Angie's co-hosts this week are Sandhya @ Indfused and Nancy @ Feasting With Friends

Cooking made easy:

If taking the pulp off the peels is too much of a chore for you, here is an easy way to do it: just add it to the blender with water and pulse it . Now strain the mixture, adding the water to the pot and discarding the peels!

Tip for healthy living:

It is essential to find ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into our children's and our own diet. Fruits and vegetables not only provide us with the essential minerals and vitamins, it also provides the necessary dietary fiber to cultivate healthy bathroom habits.

References:
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/fruit
http://www.thekitchn.com/10-photos-that-show-you-your-daily-recommended-servings-of-fruits-vegetables-207261
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/vegetables

Food for thought:

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. Henry Ward Beecher

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

Chili Garlic Asparagus Rice

Summer is here!! Which means I don't want to spend hours slaving in the kitchen!! Not that I ever did! ;) You guys know me.. If it isn't quick and easy, it is not happening in my kitchen!! It is more so now than ever as the kids want to be more outside the house than inside! This recipe that I am sharing with you today is another of my accidentally invented recipes!! Or rather spontaneously put together recipes!

My husband likes to take his lunch from home. He loathes to eat outside food. However, his home-cooked lunch has to follow certain guidelines:
A. It cannot be a sandwich
B. Rice item is preferred.
C. It has to be vegetarian.
D. It should not smell of spices while reheating!!
E. It cannot have any kind of sauce/gravy or any other liquid component to it that may possibly leak from the lunch box!!

Well, I have been very creative and innovative with his lunches. Usually I put together some kind of fried rice/ pilaf sort of thing together for him. This particular rice is another such innovative dish which happened to come together due to a tired me on a weeknight . I had made spicy garlic sauteed asparagus and Basmati rice for dinner. I decided to rice into it. Then I remembered that I had some grilled corn in the refrigerator. I took it out, shucked the corn and added it into the rice! And voila!! A delicious dish was born!!

My husband just loved it! Here is the recipe for you to try!

Prep time: 8 minsCook time: 12 mins
Total time: 20 mins

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

Asparagus: 6-8 nos
Garlic cloves: 4-5 nos
Red chilli powder( medium spice level): 1/2 tsp ( the amount of chilli powder can be adjusted based on the level of spiciness of the chilli powder and of the individual.
Olive oil: 2 tbsp
Water: 2 tbsp
Cooked rice: 3 cups
Vinegar: 1 tsp
Grilled corn: 1
Black pepper powder: 1/8tsp
Scallions: 2, green part only, chopped.
Salt: to taste

Method:

Wash the asparagus. Snap off the woody stem. Break the remaining stem into 2-3 pieces depending on the length of the asparagus. Keep aside.

Mince the garlic. Keep aside.

Shuck the corn. Keep aside.

In a sauté pan/frying pan/wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the minced garlic. Sauté until garlic is fragrant. Do not burn it. Add the red chilli powder. Sauté for 10 seconds. Add in the asparagus. Sprinkle 2 tbsp water, stir fry for couple of minutes on medium-high flame. Add salt as per taste. Now lower the flame and cover and cook for 5-6 mins or until the asparagus is tender.

You can stop at this stage if you want make just chilli garlic asparagus.

To continue making the rice, add the shucked corn to the pot. Mix well. Now add the  cooked rice  ( preferably cold rice) into the pot. Fold in the rice until it is mixed. Add vinegar & black pepper powder. Toss.

Garnish with chopped scallions.

Serve hot.

Enjoy!!

 I am bringing this to Throwback Thursday #46, Fiesta Friday #127  and Saucy Saturday #52. Angie's co-hosts this week are Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Jess @ Cooking Is My Sport.

Cooking made easy:

When I cook rice, I always cook a little more than I actually need. This way, I have some rice in the fridge on hand to rustle something up together in a hurry!

Tip for healthy living:

Eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis is a great way to keep your body in good shape and condition. 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week or 75 mins of vigorous exercise spread through the week is recommended. A minimum of one hour of physical activity every day is recommended for all individuals from 5 years of age!

Food for thought:

It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better. Gianni Versace

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!