This is certainly a different kind of curry, but there’s more to this post than the dish itself. Roz Ka Khana has a new contributor, and that’s what makes this especially refreshing.
Introducing Sumathi Vaidyanathan, a veteran journalist and editor who has worked with several high-profile publications and, most importantly, is an exceptional cook. Years of travel and experimentation with global cuisines have resulted in some wonderful creations in her kitchen, many of which I’ve been lucky enough to taste. And yes, she also happens to be my aunt.
RKK now presents “Sumathi’s Medley”, a special collection of recipes curated, created, and written by Sumathi. Here’s the first from her series: Mango Pulissery.
Guest Post by Sumathi Vaidyanathan
It’s the tail end of the South Asian mango season, and I’m making the most of it, using the fruit in every way I know how.
The other day, this led me to make a pulissery, a sweet, hot, and sour curry that I first tasted as a young girl in India at the home of a friend from Kerala.
“Puli” means sour in Malayalam, and pulissery loosely translates to “sour curry.”
While pulissery can also be made with ripe plantains or pineapple, ripe mangoes are, in my opinion, unmatched. Their velvety sweetness, coated in a tangy yogurt sauce flecked with chili and coconut, is truly bliss on the palate.
You can use any firm-fleshed mango for this dish. In Kerala, the mango of choice is the Chandrakaran. One friend prefers using the smallest mangoes she can find, peeling them and cooking them whole, seed and all. The result is delicious, but best enjoyed South Asian–style, with your hands. If that feels a bit too rustic for your family or guests, cubing the mangoes is the more refined option.
For this version, I used Chaunsa and Anwar Ratol mangoes from Pakistan, which appear in Singapore markets toward the latter half of July. The Anwar Ratol is one of my favorites, alongside the Alphonso, though its flesh can be slightly spongy. If you use it, expect the mango pieces to lose some of their shape during cooking.
Traditional pulissery is a hearty dish, rich with coconut and typically eaten with rice. The version below is lighter, making it a lovely addition to a buffet spread. I like serving it in small individual bowls so it’s easy to enjoy on its own.
Mango Pulissery
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 2 ripe mangoes
- A pinch of turmeric powder
- 1/2 to 1 tsp salt
- 3 green chilies
- 4–5 tbsp plain sour yogurt
- 1 tbsp grated coconut
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
For tempering
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 3 dried red chilies
- 3–4 curry leaves
Method
Wash, peel, and cube the mangoes. You should end up with about 1 cup of cubed fruit.
Soak the mango skins and seeds in 1 cup of hot water for about 10 minutes. Using your hands, strip off any remaining flesh, then discard the skins and seeds. If the liquid contains a lot of mango fibers, strain it or blend briefly.
Add the mango cubes and the extracted mango water to a saucepan along with the salt, green chilies, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes, until the mango pieces are just tender. If the mangoes aren’t sweet enough, add 1–2 teaspoons of sugar.
Grind the green chilies, coconut, and cumin seeds into a smooth paste using a blender or mortar and pestle.
Whisk the yogurt until smooth, then stir in the coconut paste, mixing thoroughly.
Add the yogurt mixture to the mangoes in the saucepan, stirring continuously. Lower the heat while doing this to prevent the yogurt from curdling. Bring the curry just to a near boil, then switch off the flame.
Heat the oil in a small pan until very hot. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to pop, then add the dried red chilies and curry leaves and turn off the heat.
Pour the tempering over the curry and serve.
This is absolutely one of my favourites…..