Mango Rice.

Mangoes..Yellow juicy mangoes. It is the national fruit of my country. I always crave for its smell and taste in this country. When I was young a lot of friendships were made and broken over mangoes and mango kerri. I used to go with my friends on kerri (small green mangoes - before they fully ripe into big juicy yellow mangoes) stealing expeditions from our neighbors yard. There each one of us was given a job like keeping a watch on who is watching us, some of us were employed based on our aiming capabilities and how hard or high we can throw stones, to basically throw stones to hit the kerries so that they fall to ground, and the rest to collect the fallen kerries. Once we had collected enough number of kerries we used to sit and spilt our shares but we also used have this tradition of sitting together and relishing the sour and sweet tasting karries with salt. Kerries are used in india was variety of things. Small kerries are used to make fresh or everlasting pickles. Medium to large kerries are used to make fresh juice by boiling them, chutneys or to make mango rice. Today I am just penning down my mom's mango rice recipe which I have loved for years and never seem to get enough.

Ingredients:

1. One Medium sized green mango (I prefer mango that is not ripe.)
2. 1.5 cups of uncooked basmati rice.
3. 2 medium sized Serrano pepper or 3 small sized thai pepper finely chopped.
4. 2-3 garlic pods finely chopped.
5. 2 tbsp of finely chopped coriander.
6. pinch of hing or asafoetida.
   
7. 1/2 tsp of small black mustard seeds( also called nylon mustard in india) or 1/2 tsp of cummin seeds.
8. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder.
9. 1 tbsp of ghee.
10. 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil.
11. Salt to taste.
    

Method:

1. Add 1.5 cups of basmati rice in a rice cooker add about 2 cups of water and cook (Takes about 15-20 mins to cook).
   
2. Take the medium sized mango wash it and peel off its skin using a peeler. Now grate the whole mango using a grater and keep aside.
   
3. Heat a the 2-3 tbsp oil in the wok on a medium heat. When the oil starts smoking lightly.
4. add the ghee and mustard or cummin seeds to this oil.Allow mustard seeds to spatter or cummin seeds to become golden brown in color.
5. Reduce the heat. Add the turmeric, salt, asafoetida, finely chopped green chilles, garlic and 1/2 of the freshly chopped coriander in the oil. Allow them to cook for a minute.
6. Now add the grated mango to the oil and cook it on a medium heat for about 5-7 mins.

Assembling and Serving:

1. Just before serving mix the rice and the cooked mango mixture.
2. garnish using the remaining half of the chopped coriander.
3. Serve with hot dal and fresh pudina raita.