CHEMMEEN MANGATHOLI PAAL CURRY

Almost my entire childhood vacation at Kothamangalm in my Ammai's house included unlimited supply of Mangatholi along with plenty of Kappa Erachi,Cheeda and other goodies. Till a couple of years I thought Mangatholi was literally the sundried skin of raw mangoes.Only recently did I realize that it was the entire green mango flesh which were roughly cut up and dried under the sun along with salt till it was dehydrated and almost black in colour. That flavour of Mangatholi will be on my tongue until my last day. It is so good! Super tangy,salty pieces of mango which tastes like...the Sun!

Do you all like the smell of clothes dried under the scorching Sun? I do. It always reminds me of Pallikuttumma. All our clothes would be hung on the line and even on the pebbles on the ground to dry and in the evening when it's taken inside the house,it would be paper dry and smells like the Sun. If I were to close my eyes and take a deep breath, I can still smell those clothes of mine. Those were the days we carelessly roamed around everywhere wearing hand-me-downs,least bothered about how our hair looked like or how messy our face were after eating ripe and raw mangoes holding them as is. I miss my childhood. I really had a good one.

When I was pregnant with Zara, I craved for Mangatholi. That was when Jobin was travelling to India for work. I immediately Whatsapped Ammai and asked her if she had any stock. Of course, she did and she sent it to Amma and Jobin collected it from there and brought it all the way to Minneapolis. I wonder if those mangoes which were hanging on my Ammai's trees knew that they would end up in a dish in Minneapolis!

I usually eat them as is but off late, I've been using it instead of our Kudampuli/ Valanpuli for curries. They work just fine and provides such a rustic taste to the curry. When I came across this curry on YouTube, I had to give it a try right away. As I was cooking, I posted some videos of it on Instagram (which is currently where I am the most active...if you would like to get cooking updates ALL the time from me, you can follow me there! ) and I was flooded with requests to share the recipe. It's literally impossible to share recipes personally anymore because of time constraints and the lack of interest in typing out in detail using my phone. So I told them that I will share it here, so that all of you can view it and try it at home!

CHEMMEEN MANGATHOLI PAAL CURRY
Serves 6

Ingredients:
500g Shrimp,cleaned
2 inch piece ginger, crushed
1 medium onion,sliced fine
2-3 green chilies, slit
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 sprig curry leaves
Salt

About 1/3 -1/2 cup Mangatholi,soaked in 1/2 cup water*

1 1/4 cup thin coconut milk
1/2 cup thick coconut milk

For tempering:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
2 dried red chilies
1 sprig curry leaves
5 pearl onions, sliced
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method: In a meenchatti,add the shrimp,ginger,onion, chilies,spice powders,curry leaves, salt and 1 cup water. Cook on medium heat till the shrimp is half way done. Add the thin coconut milk, Mangatholi pieces along with the soaking water and cook covered until the shrimp is completely cooked.If the gravy is too thin at this point, cook the curry uncovered for 1-2 minutes. Add the thick coconut milk and bring it to a boil. Take it off the stove.
In a small pan, heat the oil and crackle the mustard seeds.Add the dried red chilies, curry leaves and shallots and fry till the shallots starts to turn colour. Turn the heat to low and add in the spice powders.Cook stirring well for 20 seconds. Turn off the heat and pour the tempering over the curry. Check for seasonings and serve hot with rice!

* You can use one raw green mangoes pieces instead. Just make sure you don't over cook the shrimp or the mango pieces. You can use Kudampuli too,if green mangoes are unavailable.

This is an AMAZING curry! It's tangy and spicy. Since the shrimp doesn't take that long to get cooked, the ginger and onion pieces retain their shape so you get a bite of it every once in a while. This curry is best served with plain rice. Ian loved it. Jobin is in India for work right now,so that's why you don't get to hear about him much these days. So do let me know if you try this curry, you will love it for sure! In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram here!

I have some news for Kannur people! Amma and her fellow YWCA members have opened a cafe and guest house  right next to St. Teresa's School in Burnacherry. The quaint little cafe,originally a British cottage,serves homemade food made exclusively by Amma and two other members. It's called Cafe Y and it's open from 9 am till 7 pm. Please visit when time permits!