May is the month for making pickles, raw mangoes are in abundance and the sun come out in its full glory. One buys 2 varieties of mangoes, the Rajapuri for sweet pickle and the Ladwa for the sour mango pickle. The Rajapuri is made either grated, called chunda or diced as pictured above, preparation method and ingredients are same.

Mango Chutney/Mango Pickle/Mango Chunda

21/2 kgs Raw/green Rajapuri mangoes
2 kgs sugar
2 tb.sps salt
1/4 cup garcic cloves, cut into 2
1 tb. sp red chilli powder
1 tb. sp. nigella seeds/ kande ka beej/ kalonji
1 tb.sp fennel seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp pepper corns

Wash and peel the mangoes, cut and core,  grate them in a food processor or chop into fine pieces, put all the ingredients in a thick bottom pan and cook on a medium flame, stirring once every 10 mins, cooking time is about 2 hrs. the mango pieces will be soft and transparent, cool and bottle, will keep for a year.

The best way to keep pickles from spoiling is to eliminate the air gap in the storage bottle, this is achieved by transferring into smaller bottles(which are filled to the brim) or putting cling film in the bottle till it completely covers the surface and then capping the bottle.

Make enough to last a year-I make 3 batches of 21/2 kgs every year, you can have it with rice and dal, parathas, methi rotis or just plain chappati aur aam ka aachar, it's heavemly. Bon Appetit.