Avakaya

Ingredients

• 1 kg firm unripe mangoes (about 4), of a sour pickling variety
• 200 g mustard seeds, to be ground to a fine powder
• 200 g hot red chilli powder, Guntur or Byadgi
• 180 g coarse rock salt
• 2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 70 g garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 500 ml cold-pressed sesame oil (gingelly oil)

Before you cook

• Spread the mustard seeds, rock salt, fenugreek seeds and chilli powder on separate trays and leave in strong sun for 3 hours to drive off every trace of moisture.
• Wash the mangoes, wipe each one dry with a clean cloth, and leave them on a rack for 2 hours until bone dry.
• Grind the sun-dried mustard seeds and the fenugreek seeds to fine powders in separate batches, then grind the rock salt to coarse sand.
• Halve the mangoes with a heavy cleaver, keeping the hard inner shell attached to each half.
• Scoop the soft kernel out of each shell with a spoon and discard it.
• Chop each half into 12 chunks, making sure every chunk carries a piece of the shell.
• Wash a 3 litre ceramic or glass jar in hot water, dry it fully, then wipe the inside with a cloth dipped in sesame oil.

Steps

1. Tip the mustard powder, chilli powder, ground rock salt and fenugreek powder into a wide bone-dry bowl.
2. Mix the powders with a dry spoon for a full minute until the colour is completely even.
3. Stir the whole garlic cloves through the spice mixture.
4. Pour 350 ml of the sesame oil into a second wide bowl.
5. Drop a handful of mango chunks into the oil and turn them with a slotted spoon until slicked all over.
6. Lift the oiled chunks straight into the spice mixture and toss until thickly coated.
7. Transfer the coated chunks to the prepared jar and press them down gently.
8. Repeat with the remaining mango, oil and spice until the jar is packed and every chunk is coated.
9. Scrape any leftover spice mixture over the top and pour the remaining 150 ml of oil across the surface.
10. Cover the jar with its lid, lay a clean cotton cloth over the neck, and tie it in place with string.
11. Stand the jar in a dark, dry cupboard for 3 days without touching it.
12. On the fourth day, plunge a bone-dry ladle in and turn the pickle from the bottom up so the salt and oil redistribute.
13. Check that a clear layer of oil sits above the mango and top it up with more sesame oil if it does not.
14. Reseal the jar, return it to the cupboard, and start eating from day eight with hot rice and ghee.