Avakaya - Mango Pickle

1 raw Mango – Hard and very sour
1 ¼ cup Mustard powder – ava pindi
1 cup Red Chili Powder
¾ cup Salt
1½ cup Oil - preferably Sesame\Till oil
2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 cup Garlic pods - Optional

In a skillet fry the fenugreek seeds on low flame till they are nicely roasted. Keep aside.
Mustard powder can be made by dry grinding raw mustard seeds in a mill or a blender to a soft powder. 1cup of mustard make more than a cup of mustard powder so, measure the powder before using.

Wash and dry mango. Cut mango length wise leaving the hard seed shell intact, remove the soft seed. Then cut again to make small cubes of mango. Every time make sure a small part of the shell is with the mango piece. By doing this, the mango pieces in the pickle with stay hard/ crispy. Remove the fine film in the lining of the shell of the mango by scrapping with a knife and clean with a dry paper towel.

Place pieces in a bowl and add ¼ cup of salt and mix thoroughly and let sit for 15 min. By doing this the water in the mango will ooze out and the pickle will last a long time. Empty the pieces into a strainer and squeeze the remaining water between the fingers.

In a glass jar (do not use plastic with pickles) add mustard powder, chili powder, turmeric, salt and fenugreek seeds. Raw garlic pods can be added now and mix all the ingredients together. Then add oil and mix well. Now add the mango pieces and mix thoroughly.

Let sit for an hour, now the pickle will be soft enough to mix well. Salt and Karam will settle in a day.

Mango pickle has a good shelf life. It is good with hot rice and tsp of oil maybe used as a side for curd rice and upma.