Gujarati Chundo, Methambo and Katki Kairi My family recipes for your summer Mango Pickling

Summer has begun, the branches of mango trees everywhere are drooping low, pregnant with ripening mangoes. The heat has risen and everything has mellowed and as I give in to summer’s reveries and reminisce., I had my first bite of Mango for this season yesterday. Mango season always conjures up a burst of vivid memories. The succulent flesh of juicy alphonsos cut into petals, that first exquisite bite... sticky mango stained fingers and the fragrance of this voluptuous fruit permeating the nascent heat of summer in my kitchen. 

Mangoes are one of the most favoured ingredients for Pickling in India and every regional cuisine in India has a typical recipe for Achaar or Pickle. In this illustration I have captured the steps. The mangoes are first cut into chunks and mixed with salt and turmeric. They are then dried in the sun before they are pickled with choice spices and oil.

But Mango season for me, brings an annual ritual. Mango pickling. The Mango pickle has been part of every stage of my life. From my earliest memories of eating a piece of Mango Chunda and the kind of epiphany that dawned on my taste buds from the frenzied explosion of sweet, sour, heat and salt. To the musical chatter of the women in my family as they busied themselves with making mango pickles, my paternal grandmother presiding over the work. Lining up the finished works (yes, like art), ceramic or glass jars of mango pickles in myriad hues and flavors in Moti Mummys Kothar. My not so cleverly planned capers to pilfer pickles that always ended disastrously with turmeric stains giving us away. Boarding school years when that jar of pickle alliviated bouts of homesickness. Friendships forged on sessions of bonding over pickle with puckered faces and finger licking. Dating (my husband) our romance accompanied by the discovery of new pickles and flavors made by my future mother in law. Marriage, a new home, an entire frontier of new pickles conjured up by the new women in my life. Motherhood, and watching my son taste his first Heeng ka Achaar and now performing the yearly ritual of pickling mangoes to become part of my children’s memories.

           

I recall some of my favorite mango pickles I grew up eating. My paternal grandmother was Gujarati and known to lay almost 90 types of pickle in her prime! These include classics like Chundo, a hot and sweet grated raw Rajapuri Mango pickle with the consistency of marmalade, thick and chunky with grated slivers of mango. Murrabbo and Davra (a berry pickled in brine) are my other favorites. My maternal grandmother on the other hand was Kutchi and not as prolific with pickling but she had her own version of the Murabbo and her Chundo was the best I had ever tasted.

Mango pickles flavor life’s memories much like they flavor our foods. Bouquets of texture, taste and aromas, they make moments worth savoring. Here are a few of my family's recipes for Gujarati Mango Pickles from the chapter on my Nani in A Pinch of This, A Handful of That. I have also added in the recipe for Katki, an almost instant small batch pickle you can make and eat immediately while the other pickles mature. I will leave you with wishes to have a beautiful summer ... 

Also if you want to check it our here is a recipe for my Ma-In-Laws Heeng Ka Achaar

Chundo

Chundo is a grated Mango pickle that is sun cooked. Sweet and hot in flavour, when made right it has the consistency of marmalade but with lots of grated slivers of mango in it. It spreads easily onto anything and can be used as a relish. The simple ingredients also make it ideal in the hotter summer months.

Makes 3 X 500 g jars; 

Time: 1 hour plus a few days in the sun

Ingredients

3 Rajapuri Mangoes peeled, grated and weighed

Sugar 1.5 times the volume of mango

1 tbsp / 15 g Turmeric

1 tbsp / 15 g Cumin seed

2 tbsp / 30 g Chilli powder

½ c Salt

Method

Peel and grate mangoes, mix with the salt and turmeric and leave for about half an hour. Now with clean hands take handfuls of the grated mango pulp and squeezing gently put the dried pulp into a clean steel vessel. Add  sugar to the squeezed mango and mix well. Tie a piece of muslin over the mouth of the vessel and place in the sun. Now, if you want to do it right and have the patience, then like my Nani leave your Chundo in the sun for a full 21 days. This means that it goes out every morning (after a stir) and comes in every night. You will know your pickle is done when the sugar has melted to a syrup and reaches a 1.5 - 2 string consistency. (to test, take a smidgen of syrup between your thumb and forefinger. When you pull them apart, they should form 1.5 to 2 threads). When done, add the chilli powder. Crush the cumin coarsely and add to pickle. Be careful not to touch a wet spoon to the pickle.

For those of you not wanting to wait for the pickle to cook in the sun there is an easier option, but be warned it will not taste the same. It is almost like the flavour of sunlight is captured in this pickle! Place a heavy bottomed pan on the fire and put mango-sugar mixture in it. Cook till all the water has evaporated, stirring to avoid sticking until it reaches 1.5 to 2 thread consistency. Add chilli powder while still hot.

Variations - this is something I like to do with a small batch - up the chilli quotient and add raisins.

There are a couple of variables you need to watch out for with Chundo.

1. MANGOES - In case your mangoes are not firm i.e. have begun to ripen, they would not do for Chundo. Rajapuri mangoes is what the recipe calls for, these are large mangoes that are used raw, sour and firm. The idea being that the pickle on being done should hold the form of the slivers it has been grated into. Between us ,Nani and I have created a volume based recipe that will work to help you start with smaller quantities the first time.

2. THE SUN - The Sun is the other variable with this recipe. The sun is very hot in India averaging 38-40 degree Celsius. It might not be as strong where you are so vary the amount of days you sun the Chundo accordingly. If it’s really hot where you are then 3-4 days will suffice, but if the intensity is lower the number of days will vary between 4-8 days.

3. CRYSTALLIZATION - If you notice that there is crystallization happening in your Chundo, then the sugar ratio is too high, you need to grate salt and some more mango and add it in. Keeping one mango spare might be a good idea for the duration. If you don't use it in the chutney then refer to the bottom of this recipe for another one you can use it up in!

4. ANTS – Chundo is an Ant Magnet! The muslin cloth is to keep them and other stuff that might get in, out.  If ants are a problem where you live take the extra precaution of placing the whole container of chundo in a basin of water.Don’t let water get into the pickle however. 

Methambo

To fill in the gap while the sun cooks your Chundo, try this. It is also a sort of consolation for those who have a riper mango and can’t do the Chundo. The addition of the spices and the use of jaggery make Methambo ideal in colder climates and it might be worth putting some down to give as presents in the winter or for Christmas.

Time: 2 hours; Makes 3-4 X 500g jars

Ingredients

1 Kg raw Mangoes, peeled and chopped fine

1 Kg Jaggery

3 tbsp /45 g Salt

2 tbsp / 30 g Turmeric powder 

1 tbsp / 30 ml Oil

1 tsp / 5 g Mustard seeds

8-10 /25g Boria chillies (the little round ones) 

2 tbsp / 30 g Coriander seeds

7-8 / 5 g Cloves

7-8 / 5 g Cinnamon sticks

60 g Raisins

40 g Salt

Method

Place mango in a large mixing bowl, apply salt and turmeric and set aside for an hour or so until the juices of the fruit are released. Then strain but do not press. Heat the oil in a large pan and add in the mustard and chillies. When the seeds splutter, add coriander seeds, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Wait for two seconds to allow aromas to develop and then add the mango pieces and the finely cut jaggery, stirring all the time on a slow flame. Cook Methambo until uniformly thick. Add the chilli powder just before you take it off the flame. On cooling the Methambo will thicken further.

Katki Kairi

If you would like to make a quick mango pickle try this one. It also uses up the little bits closer to the stone that can’t be grated. Amazing with hot Parathas!

Ingredients 

2 small raw mangoes

1 tbsp cold pressed mustard oil 

2 tsp crushed yellow mustard seeds

1 tsp crushed fenugreek

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/8 tsp Asafeotida

11/2 tsp red chilli (or more if want things spicy)

Salt to taste

Method

Finely chop the mangoes and set aside. 

Heat the mustard oil, allow to cool a little and add the Asafeotida, crushed Mustard, Fenugreek and salt. Mix well and allow to cool completely. 

Add red chilli and stir in thoroughly 

Add the finely chopped mangoes and stir in well

Allow to stand for a while and the pickle is ready to eat It will be good for 3-4 days if refrigerated.

Dear Mediratta family.... thank you for the memories... the Munshaws.

I am at a point of life where so much is happening. New highs at home and at work, my kids growing up so very, very fast. And in all of this I often find myself overtaken by nostalgia. A seemingly innocuous incident or object will trigger a rush of memories and I just lose myself in reminiscences; a pleasant period of remembering the people and events that have enriched my life. 

Last night I had dinner with a few such people. Rajiv, Anju and Mohit Mediratta. As we celebrated Rajiv’s 48th birthday; at one point I sat back; looking around, there at that moment I was witnessing decades of togetherness, my heart full. This was the next chapter of the Munshaw-Mediratta family story. 

I am not really clear on how the Munshaw and the Mediratta families connected. I vaguely remember a story of how my Dad first did business with them, but then became friends at some point and stopped doing business because he did not do business with friends.

But the Medirattas are a large sprawling family – or more aptly a clan. When we first met, the family consisted of Big Mummy, the Matriarch, her 7 children and their families. Over the years, each branch of the family visited and parts of our families visited them. Our families formed strong bonds and were with each other in celebrations and sorrows. It did not matter if we were a world apart, the families would always be represented at weddings and deaths.

We are scattered all over the world now and most of us have not met in years but today I have been thinking of them all day. My first memory is of Big Daddy’s family arriving one day. I was 9 years old then. Through the fortnight they lived with us, we saw a side of our Dad that had never seen before. I think that day pretty much changed our childhoods.

I remember the Medi kids used to guzzle Thumbs Up and other aerated drinks that came to be called soda. So crates and crates of the stuff would be stocked up and we all had a free run of them while they were in residence. We went out on a whirlwind foodie tour of the then Bombay dining scene as Dad hosted lunches and dinners at all the iconic new eating spots along with the classics like Radio Club, China Garden, Copper Chimney and Mahesh Lunch Home. We rediscovered street food at Chowpatty, gorged on strawberries and cream and sitaphal ice cream at Bachelors, and also met the corner juicewalla. He had always peddled his wares from that corner but once he became a favourite of the Medis, there was a constant inflow of fresh juice and milkshake.

I don’t remember much else of that first visit, except that I was fascinated by one of the boys, something I was teased about painfully, for years after and still am on the rare occasions I cross paths with a Mediratta. (In the interests of maintaining maturity for all, I’m withholding names here. My siblings and his siblings may please note we are all grown up now and there are little ears all around!!)

But that first visit led to innumerable other trips that built this unique family bond. Our lives have been enriched with the most wonderful memories any kids can have. And these are the stories that we will one day tell our grand children. Of adventures in Africa and the UK, and childhood capers that we still laugh over.

I will never forget the happy times we had at the big Mediratta house with its wonderful TV room and loads of wonderful playmates. Swimming, sitting in the sauna, swimming some more, running wild through the house and the sprawling lawns. Arti Bhabhi’s awesome cooking, watching Shashi aunty get dressed for parties, slightly in awe of her glamour, gossiping with Tipi Chachi, snuggling in front of the TV with Raj and Mani Chahchi.

Huge, huge meals from breakfast to dinner. I have fond memories of Johnny, the Kenyan chef, whipping up glasses of thick lassi to wash down breakfasts of parathas, jeera aloo and katki mango pickles. Mani Chachi’s mushroom soup, Shashi Aunty’s roast chicken. Large leisurely lunches and dinners particularly at Carnivore, with groups of family so HUGE you could not see the other end of the table!

Giggling over silly things with Anjani, Aditi, and Nimmo. Nicknaming Manu, Mutua number 2 because he insisted on wearing pajamas with holes in them, teasing Mutua and Wanbua. Codenaming condoms ‘chewing gum’ so we could crack adult jokes in front to the littler kids. And that wonderful midnight feast one night when the adults were out and we invaded the kitchen. When Pavan Mediratta concocted his never-to-be-forgotten, half boiled egg garnished with much hilarity. And adorable little Jitin, whom everybody doted on. (You are still my favorite Medi, Jitin!!)

And then there were the adventures; tasting my first champagne on the slopes of Limuru with Big D, Mom and a bunch of kids, discovering passion fruit on the buffet of Mt. Kenya Safari club on a visit with Shokee Daddy. And OMG! Jay Medirattas horse ride when he dropped his ‘strings’ and panicked on our first horse ride! That epic trip to Mombasa when we discovered water slides and chili dusted cassava and Manu Mediratta flashed Ritika with his ‘hot body.’

And many, many safaris in the Masai Mara, Nakuru and Shabba that ignited a passion for Africa in all of us that has never really faded….

Last night’s dinner saw a comparatively modest group at the table compared to the vast gatherings of our families in the past. And we were all so much older. My brother and sister in law had replaced my Dad and Mom at this new gathering, my Mom was now the ‘Big Mummy’. And Rajiv’s son was 21! When did that happen? I can still vividly remember Rajiv and Anju’s engagement 23 odd years ago!!!

But then I will be 40 this year. And at this new table I was the older generation, with the newest Mrs. Munshaw, my nephew Harsh’s wife Disha sitting next to me.  Sometimes the passing of time is so very finite. All evening I had a strange melancholy in me for those that were not present at the table, but just as strong was a quiet warmth of happiness and the promise of the next generation bonding...

It's special... being part of a larger whole without actually belonging but just becoming.....

Dear Mediratta Family, thank you for all the memories. Love, Rushina and the Munshaws

And now that you know the story of the family, here is a recipe from our trips to Kenya that’s part of my book ‘A Pinch of This, A Handful of That’. Make it and celebrate those friendships that have no explanations but span generations.

Nairobi Butter Tawa Prawns (Pg 84 )

Whenever we traveled to Nairobi, my father would time it so we arrived on a Wednesday and carry a large bag of a special consignment for the men of the Mediratta family, the family friends we stayed with in Nairobi. King prawns on dry ice. And the very same day, there would be a men’s only Karaoge night by the poolside where these would be slow cooked on a 3” tawa over charcoal heat. As kids we managed to sneak in and steal a bite or two that were tastier because of it!

Time: 30 minutes + 30 minutes for marination
Serves: 6 to 7 portions

Ingredients:
1kg King prawns, off the shell 125gms Ginger, grated 250gms Garlic, chopped 1tsp Turmeric powder Salt to taste 500gms Butter 1tbsp Peppercorns, cracked ½ cup Green chilies, chopped ½ cup Coriander leaves, chopped Juice of 2 limes

Garnish: Lime slices Finely chopped green chilies

Method: Clean the prawns, devein and wash well. Drain and pat dry. Combine 1 tbsp each of the ginger, garlic and turmeric with the salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add the prawns and mix, till well coated. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes. Melt butter on a tawa/ frying pan, add the peppercorns, green chilies and the rest of the garlic and ginger and stir-fry till fragrant. Add the prawns and cook till they just curl and turn pink. Sprinkle the coriander leaves and lime juice over the prawns. Serve the prawns with lime slices and sprinkle green chilies on top to add a splash of colour.