Turn mangoes into a rich, spiced curry with this recipe from Karnataka

In Karnataka’s Udupi cuisine, mangoes aren’t just for desserts. In this recipe from Camellia Panjabi’s new book ‘Vegetables: The Indian Way’, they’re transformed with tamarind, jaggery and spice into a dish that’s sweet, sour and deeply satisfying

Sweet, sour and spiced – this Karnataka classic turns humble mangoes into something extraordinary (Jonathan Gregson)

“This is a dish from the Udupi cuisine of the Mangalore region in Karnataka. This area is known as South Kannada,” says bestselling author and restaurateur Camellia Panjabi.

“Depending on the sourness or sweetness of your mangoes, you can adjust the tamarind quantity and the jaggery [cane sugar], to your taste.

“The Jain community in this region also make this dish, omitting the garlic. It is a semi-dry dish.”

Masala mango curry

Serves: 6 as a condiment or with rice

Ingredients:

30g tamarind

1kg just-ripe cooking mangoes

6 tbsp coconut or other oil of your choice

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1½ tbsp white urad dal

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp raw rice grains

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

3 tbsp grated coconut

5 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water

½ tsp mustard seeds

4 cloves of garlic

3 dried red chillies, broken into pieces

20 curry leaves

65g jaggery

1 tsp salt

1¼ tsp mango powder (amchoor)

2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

In ‘Vegetables: The Indian Way’, Camellia Panjabi proves that produce deserves top billing, with recipes that make vegetables (and fruit) the hero (Penguin Michael Joseph)

1. Soak the tamarind in 125ml of warm water and set aside.

2. Cut the mangoes downwards into 2 slices and the middle seed part. Cut each slice into 2 pieces. Peel. Cut the sides off the seed. Discard the seed. If the mango is very large, cut each cheek into 4 pieces.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet, and add the coriander seeds, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, raw rice, sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons of grated coconut and the 5 soaked red chillies. Sauté for 3 minutes on a low heat, then set aside to cool. Once cool, grind to a paste in a spice grinder.

4. Heat another 4 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan, and when very hot, add the mustard seeds. After 6 seconds add the garlic and after a minute add the 3 broken red chillies and the curry leaves and fry for a minute. Add the jaggery, the masala paste and the tamarind water, squeezed out and strained. Then add 1 cup (235ml) of water and the salt, and bring to the boil. Taste for seasoning, balancing between sourness (tamarind), sweetness (jaggery) and saltiness.

5. After it has boiled for a minute, add the mango pieces and cook until tender. Now taste again. Add the mango powder and stir. When serving, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and the remaining tablespoon of grated coconut.

‘Vegetables: The Indian Way’ by Camellia Panjabi (Penguin Michael Joseph, £40).