Today I bring you to a traditional Tamil Puthaandu mango pachadi recipe (mangai pachadi), the main food eaten first on the day of Tamil New Year.
Wishing all the lovely readers out there a happy and prosperous Tamil New Year (Puthandu Vaazhthukal)!
The first day of Chithirai masam (month) marks the beginning of Tamil New Year which is called as Tamil Puthandu,Chithirai Vishu or Chithirai Tirunaal in Tamil. As per Tamil beliefs on the first day of Chithirai month Lord Brahma started to create the universe.
This year it falls on 14th April.
Tamil New Year Rituals:
We used to celebrate Tamil New Year by decorating home with colourful kolams and mango leaves, wearing new dress, eating feast, viewing of “kani” (auspicious things like gold/ silver/ fruits/ vegetables/ betel leaf/ rice/ coconut/ flowers/ decorated lamp). It is believed that viewing “kani” will bring good fortune throughout the year.
During my childhood days, I used to be very excited at the time of Puthandu to collect ‘kaineetam’ from my parents, relatives and elders.
This is a season of fruits like mango and jackfruit. So dishes are mostly prepared with mango, jackfruit and neem flowers.
Mangai pachadi or (mango pachadi) recipe:
There is a specialty in this Mangai Pachadi recipe. It is prepared including all the taste forms such as sour (mango), sweet (jaggery), bitterness (neem flowers), spicy ( red chilli), tangy (tamarind) with salt added.
The dish signifies life as a mixture of emotions and we have to face everything in life; both success and failures.
Managi pachadi or mango pachadi can be served to toddlers above 1 year. It is best served with cooked rice.
Nowadays I always prefer cooking in pressure cooker to save time. The traditional preparation needs neem flowers as one of the tempering ingredient. As I can’t find it here in my place I omitted neem flowers in this recipe.
So this is advanced traditional mangai pachadi recipe using pressure cooker.
Step by step instructions to make mango pachadi:
Deskin the mangoes and cut into small cubes. Pressure cook mangoes, turmeric powder and water for 3 whistles.
Add in the crushed jaggery and tamarind extract when the pressure releases. Cook on medium for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture becomes thick.
Heat oil or ghee in another pan and add the seasonings. Add to the mango pachadi.
- Peeled raw Mango or almost ripe mango - 1
- Crushed jaggery or sugar – ⅓ cup (6 tbsp)
- Turmeric Powder – ¼ tsp
- Tamarind extract – 2.5 tbsp (from little tamarind soaked in warm water)
- Water – ¼ cup
- Salt -1/4 tsp (to taste)
- For seasoning
- Ghee or oil – 1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
- Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
- Red chilli - 1
- Neem flowers(optional) - a little
- Peal the skin and cut the mangoes into small cubes
- In a pressure cooker add the cubed mangoes, turmeric water, water and pressure cook for three whistles
- Once the pressure releases naturally, open the cooker add in crushed jaggery and tamarind extract. Mix it well
- Let it cook till the mixture becomes thick. It will take 5-10 min
- Switch off the flame
- Now in another small pan heat ghee or oil and add the ingredients listed under 'for seasoning'. If adding neem flowers temper them until golden brown
- Add the tadka into the mango pachadi
- Get good quality jaggery, so that you can use it without melting and filtering. I just crushed the jaggery block with my chapathi rolling pin
- If using melted jaggery, adjust according to your taste
- Jaggery can be replaced with sugar
- Try to use sour variety mangoes
Hope you will try out my version of mango pachadi recipe at home. Do share with me in comments the response of your little ones too. Here my son loved it a lot!
You can also try the mango cake using wheat flour for your little one.
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