Cooking aam ki chutney in the microwave

My local super market is having a 'fruit and vegetable carnival' and I ended up purchasing more than I normally would, for the Thamizh varusha pirappu. Though not a festival as such, it is an auspicious day of the Hindu calendar, which is celebrated in mid April. There are a few dishes specially cooked for the day. The manga pachchidi is one such dish.

I had purchased mangoes to make that and also picked up a raw mango to make pickle. However, this morning the plans for pickling were abandoned and I ended up making aam ki chutney instead. The mango had become semi ripe and the pickle would not have had the tangy crunch that it usually has.

As I chopped the mango, I remembered the recipe in the microwave cookbook and decided to go with it. I started with the recipe but wandered way too off, I must say. Nonetheless, the result is a tongue tickling typical khatta-meeta-theeka chutney.

Ingredients:
1 large raw mango, semi ripe
1/3 cups sugar
3 red chillis
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon rock salt
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon oil



Method:
Skin the mango and chop to tiny pieces or grate the mango if you like.
In a microwave safe flat dish, place the cumin seeds well spread and heat without lid, on 100% micro power for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove from the plate and set aside.
Similarly heat the red chillis on 100% power for 1 minute until they are brittle.
Crush the fennel seeds a bit.
Run the roasted chillis and cumin in the spice grinder to a coarse powder.
In a microwave proof bowl, heat 1 teaspoon oil on 100% power for 30 seconds. add the mustard seeds. Place it in the microwave open on 100% power for 2 minutes allowing them to crackle.
Add the crused fennel seeds, powdered cumin, chillis, salt, asafoetida and heat again on 100% power for 2 more minutes.
Add the chopped mango pieces and water. Cook covered with a lid for 5 minutes on 100% power until the mango is tender to touch.
Add the sugar and stir well.
Now on we cook open until the desired consistency is reached. I cooked first for 5 minutes on 100% power, stirring once between.
Then reduced the heat to 80% and cooked for almost 11 minutes allowing the chutney to thicken.
The book says to cook only for 5 minutes and I had a very liquid like consistency and had to cook further.
You may check the thickness at intervals and stop when required. It probably depends on how firm the mango is.
A very tasty chutney is ready under 30 minutes.




This chutney with mint flavoured rotis and a quick fix vegetable jalfrizie made my lunch last afternoon

This mango chutney is packed off to Karasaram who is hosting Siri's Healing Foods event with Mango for April

and to

Srivalli's Microwave Easy Cooking event presently hosted at my own page with something to go in the Lunch Box.

Hope you enjoy mangoes as much as I do and will love this chutney too.