Mango rice

This one is for you Shammi! When I made this I remembered that you had asked for the recipe, which I truly forgot about. This recipe is a slight departure from what my mom makes. This is more in the style of kannada mango rice.

Mango rice

Cook 1 cup rice so that it is well-cooked but not mushy.

Grind the following into a paste:

1 large green mango, grated
4 green chilies
1 red chili (optional)
1 -2 tsp mustard seeds (I like more mustard flavor)
about 3/4 c grated coconut

Heat a pan with 1-2 T oil. Add cashewnuts or peanuts and toast slightly. Remove. Now add 1 tsp jeera, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp chana dal, a good dash of asafoetida and some curry leaves. After mustard splutters, add the paste, 1/2 tsp turmeric and salt as required. Fry for a couple of minutes. You don't want the paste to lose its potency (mango must taste fresh and you should get a little raw mustard taste).

Lastly add rice, mix and turn off stove. Mix in the roasted nuts.

So that's it. The only difference here compared to my mom's recipe is that she does not add mustard seeds to the paste. That gives quite a different taste. If you don't use the mustard, then the ground paste can be sauteed as mentioned above till oil floats on top. This can be served as mango thogaiyal with dosa.