Aamer Ambol

Raw Mango in a light watery soup

Come summers and the kitchen becomes a sea of orange, yellow and green! Gorgeous mangoes in all its various hues and avatars, rule the roost so to say....be it the morning breakfast with mango smoothie, the mid morning fruity break with mangoes, the afternoon dessert of mango custard or mango pudding, a cool smoked raw mango drink to beat the heat, mango chutney, just mangoes and oh so many more delicious mouth watering mango delights to fill the day!

So today when my Ma's friends, an elderly couple, was coming over for lunch, I decided to go for a traditional Bengali summer lunch and dish out the oh-so-soothing Aam er Ambol as the last but final item on the menu, right before the desserts of Doi-mishti. As I have written earlier (here), Chaatni, tok or Ambol is the penultimate item in a traditional Bengali meal, the final one being doi-mishti (Curd and sweet).

So here goes the recipe of the simplest of simple preparation :
Ingredients :
# Raw Mango - 3
#Mustard seeds - 1/2tsp
#Dry Whole red chilli - 1
#Sugar - 100 gms or sugar syrup - 1 cup (I used up the leftover syrup after making roshogollas)
#Rock salt - 1/2 tsp
#Chilli flakes - a pinch (optional)
#Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure :
1. Slice the raw mangoes longitudinally as shown.

2. In a wok, heat the mustard oil. Throw into the oil, mustard seeds and dry whole red chilli.

3.As it splutters, add the sliced raw mango pieces. Add the sugar/sugar syrup. Add 4-5 cups of water. Cover with a lid, lower the flame and let it come to a boil

4. As it boils, sprinkle the rocksalt. Check the taste and if required add some more sugar and salt.

5. Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli flakes (optional)

6. Take it off the flame and chill.

The Aam er Ambol (Pronounced Awmbol as in Awful) is ready to be savoured after lunch or dinner!

Mixed Fruit Chaatni

The Bengali Chaatni can have any fresh fruit as an ingredient. One of the most common being the tomato, of course. Other common ones being Aam (Raw mango), Pepe (Raw Papaya), Olive (Aamra), Anarosh (Pineapple) to name a few.

Tomato chaatni having become too common and more importantly there being only a handful in my fridge, made me think out-of-the-box. A peek into the fridge, brought out half a pineapple, some grapes and as I've already mentioned, a handful of tomatoes. So got down to an improvisation...with some seedless tamarind and dates (which are always available in my fridge) thrown in to the fruit medley, a mixed fruit chaatni, it would be!

Ingredients : what I used in this impromptu recipe Tomatoes - 3
Pineapple - 1/2 a pineapple (small one) - chopped into small pieces
Grapes - about 15-20 - sliced longitudinally
Seedless tamarind-a small ball soaked in warm water to make a pulp
Seedless dates - a small bowl full
Cashew/Kaju - broken pieces - about 30-40 gms
Sugar - 100 gms or depending on the desired sweet-tangy taste
black salt- a pinch
fennel seeds - dry roasted or microwaved for a minute
Dry Roasted Cummin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 (Optional)
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp

Procedure :
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Throw in the bay leaf
2. Temper with the fennel seeds as phoron.
3. Add the broken kaju pieces and the chopped seedless dates. Fry for a few seconds
4. Add the tomatoes. Stir around in the wok till they are almost mashed.
5. Add the sugar. Mix well
6.Add the pineapples pieces, grapes, tamarind pulp.
7. Cook till they all integrate. Sprinke some water if too dry.
8. Check for the sweetness.
9. Add a pinch of black salt and the chilli flakes. Mix well
10. Before taking the wok off the flame, sprinkle some roasted Cummin / jeera powder.
The Chaatni will have a sweet-sour-slightly hot taste.

Koth Bel Maakha....delicious Wood Apple Pulp!!

That the routine weekend trip to the supermarket would transport me to my growing up years...who knew. As I mechanically stuffed the Gourds, Potatoes, Onions into my basket, a familiar yet not-so familiar aroma drew me to a corner of the fresh vegetables/fruits section. A row of moss-green-pale-yellow speckled, rough & hard textured sphere with the name of Wood-Apple were sitting pretty on the cornermost shelf.

Is it or is it not, was what I asked myself ???

A quick SOS call to Ma describing the appearance and English name of Wood-Apple confirmed that it was indeed the 'Koth Bel' Dida used to mash and spice up for us to savour on hot summer afternoons, sitting on the terrace and squirming yet loving the predominantly sour-yet-sweet taste with the distinct flavour of the Koth Bel Maakha (Maakha-a Bengali term which means to mash & mix)!!!

Oooh...an almost involuntary shiver in remembrance of the unforgettable taste ran through my palate even as I stood right in the middle of the supermarket. Greedily I picked up four Koth-Bels or Wood-Apples (a name totally unknown to me till that day) and proceeded towards the cash counter......

Well, without wasting any more time, I'll proceed directly to the simplest possible recipe of a fantafabulous pickle dish which is chock-a-block with nutrients (something which a quick google search informed me)


Ingredients :
Koth Bel - 2
Sugar - 1 tsp (or as per taste)
Salt - 2 tsp (or as per taste)
Mustard Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Green Chillies - finely chopped (again depending on the chilli tolerance factor ;))

Procedure :
1. The hard rind is to be cracked open.
2. Scoop out the brown pulp within.
3. Mash it into a smooth paste. The soft seeds may not be removed...they add to the taste
4. Add all the ingredients as given above and mix well.
5. A few hour in the sun would be great but we were too greedy and couldnt wait that long....
6. The flavour cant be described....you have to have it to understand....

This is my entry to this week's WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING #173 hosted for the week by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once. The history of WEEKEND HERB BLOGGING is available here. The logo for the event is .....