As we say in Bangladesh, mango is the king of fruit. When I was studying my bachelor in agricultural science, I learned that there used to be two thousand different kinds of mango variety in Bangladesh. Now we have only few variety of mangoes left, yet they mesmerize me with their unique taste and sweetness.

However, today I am not writing about how amazing the fruit is but I am writing about how to make pickles of green mango. We have lots of recipes of green mangoes and most of them are vegan. As mango is the fruit of summer, we make pickle to preserve the mango for rest of the year.

It is hard to find to green mango in Denmark but still possible. I bought one kilo of mango from local Indian grocery. To make any Bangladeshi pickle, two ingredients are most important – one is Mustard oil and the other is mustard seed. Other spices are complementary and varies on what kind of pickle you want to make. This recipe calls for a spicy and sour pickle, so I did not add any sugar to the ingredient list.

First I washed them well with cold water to remove external dirt. Then I cut them in four pieces, since they were small. But for bigger mangoes, you can cut them into 6 pieces. Then I took out the seed and white vein. This part is very important because if there any white part remains on the pickle, it will make the pickle very bitter.

Usually in Bangladesh, we sun dry them at this point, so that mango stays in texture. Since we don’t have scorch sun in Denmark, I have took this extra step. I took all mangoes in a bowl and added 1 tea spoon of salt and 1 table spoon of white vinegar.

I left this mixture for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, I have prepared other ingredients.

I dry ground mustard seeds and paach phoron (separetly) in a coffee grinder. You don’t need to dry toast them before grinding.

Then I made a paste by mixing all the dry and wet ingredients (except for oil) like garlic paste, white vinegar, turmeric and dry red chili powder.

After an hour, I drained mango and let them completely dry out. I first pat them dry by a paper towel and them put on oven for about then minutes. This step is second important because any trace of water will make your pickle moldy. So carefully pat dry every pieces of mangoes, especially inside part where the mango seeds were.

I took a big wok, added and heated mustard oil in medium heat. When oil was heated, I added dried chili first and spice paste which I prepared beforehand.

1 table spoon of salt was added to the mixture.

Then all the mangoes were added and turned several times to be mixed with the spices.

Although this mango pickle recipe is sour, I have added just a tea spoon of sugar just to increase the taste. It will not make the pickle sweet but will help in enhancing the flavor a lot.

The stove heat is still in medium. As you can see in the picture, the outer skin of mango has changed it colors. It means that mango pickle is almost cooked. To ensure, I have checked with toothpick. If this is fully inserted, it means the mangoes are cooked. However, we don’t want soft mangoes, we only want them to be cooked.

The third important step is to transfer the mango immediately when they are fully cooked. Otherwise the species will get burned by the heat and make the pickle bitter.

The pickle is ready to eat, however to get the authentic taste, put them in a glass jar and cover the top with a cloth (so dirt don’t get in) and leave pickle in sunlight for two weeks. Also make sure all the mango pieces are covered under mustard oil. If needed, lightly warm some mustard oil and when its cold pour them on pickles in the jar, until all the mango pieces are covered in oil.

You can eat the pickles with any dishes, but I like it best with daal or khichuri.

Recipe: Green Mango Pickle, for 6 month storage Prepping time: 1 hour, Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 1 kilo of green mango Spice and Condiments: 400ml Mustard Oil 1.5 Tbsp Yellow Mustard 1/2 Tbsp Red Mustard 2 Tbsp Paach Phoron 1 tsp fine Salt 1 tsp Turmeric powder 1 tsp red Chili powder 2 Tbsp Garlic paste 100ml of White Vinegar 2-3 Dry red Chili (optional)

Instruction: 1. Wash mangoes with cold water and pat dry. Cut them in four pieces and take out mango seeds and white vein. 2. In a big bowl, add mangoes, 1 table spoon of salt and 1 table spoon of vinegar and water. Mix well, and let them rest for 1 hour. 3. Dry grind yellow mustard and paach phoron. Then make a paste by adding garlic paste, turmeric powder, vinegar, red chili powder. 4. After an hour, drain mango and pat dry well, so there’s no trace of water. If necessary, dry them in oven for 10 min. 5.Heat mustard oil in a big wok. Add dry chili and spice paste mix. Cook in medium heat and continue to stir. 6. Add dried up mangoes and stir mix them well. Add salt too. The heat is still medium and be careful with the stirring, so the mangoes don’t get break. 7. After 10 minutes, check with toothpick is the mango is cooked. When the outer skin of all mangoes turns to pale green, turn off the heat and put all the pickles in a bowl to cool down. 8. Store them in a glass jar after cooling pickle completely. 9. Leave the jar in sunlight for two weeks, without the lid and top covered in clean cloth.