My experience with mangoes here in US has been a big disaster so far. At my native we had a lot of mango trees. So I have grown up eating one of the best mangoes. Few of them were the “gavnti” – country style mangoes, they were very tasty and full of pulp. Anyone who ate these mangoes could never ever forget them. I didn’t realize how much I loved them up until we started living in the US and I was searching in all possible places for any good edible mangoes. When I first saw the beautiful mangoes in Walmart, I could not stop myself and bought few of them. Soon after trying to cut these, I was disappointed. They were not at all sweet and were full of hairy pulp. All of them directly went to trash. I didn’t loose hope and tried buying from Walmart 2-3 times with same results and now my hubby does not allow me to go anywhere near mango section in Walmart. So the next hope was to try Indian store, the same thing repeated there too. Though the pulp was not so hairy, they were too sour or had bland taste.
Even after such a disaster, I bought a pack of peeled and cut mangoes from Costco this time. I knew they were not sweet. I wonder what do they mean by “sweet mangoes” here, have they ever tried Indian mangoes?. This batch was neither sweet, nor sour. They were somewhere between and it was impossible for direct consumption. So I thought of cooking something with them.
I searched in all my recipe collection and could not narrow down on anything. Then I remembered Mango dal by Sandeepa. I was hooked to this recipe from the first time I saw it. Then I realized my husband would not eat the mango pieces in this dal because he didn’t like the big pieces of mangoes in a dish that I had prepared the previous day. So I thought of disguising the mangoes and decided not to tell him whats in the dal. I tweaked the recipe completely as I started cooking and came up with the following recipe. It was lip smacking delicious. We both simply loved it. Thanks a lot Sandeepa for such a lovely dish.
Please check Sandeepa’s blog for the Bengali traditional recipe, the one I have posted here is my modification.
Ingredients:
1 cup masoor dal
1 cup finely chopped mangoes (sweetish sour)
1/2 tea spn finely chopped ginger
4-5 curry leaves
3/4 cup chopped onion
4-5 green chilies
Ghee
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
1/2 tea spn mustard seeds
A pinch turmeric
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
2 tbl spn fresh/frozen coconut
Salt
Amount of mangoes can be adjusted to taste
Method:
Heat ghee and add mustard, cumin seeds. When they start popping, add green chilies, curry leaves, ginger. Fry for a min and then add onion. Fry till it turns translucent. To this, add washed masoor dal(do not add water) and mangoes. Fry for about 2-3mins till a nice aroma comes out. Now add salt, turmeric and 2-3 cups water. Close the lid and cook till dal is mashed. This step can be done in cooker, but since this dal cooks pretty fast, I cooked directly on stove top. When done, mash well with a ladle. Garnish with coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3-4
Preparation time : 40mins(about 15mins if cooker is used)
Hey Shilpa….I am going to get mangoes on this weekend and try this positively. I have not made our traditional ‘ambe upkari’ too this year, as the mangoes are not like the Indian ones. Thanks for sharing and posting a simple, tasty and tangy recipe.
I Loveeeeeeeeeeee Mango Dal very much. Mango Dal with plain Chapathis taste awesome. I also love mixing half a cup of this dal with half a cup of curds and drinking it as it is. Lovley presentation. Makes my mouth water.
Look good.I have a Mango dal too Shilpa with Tuar dal.I agree, mangoes here are terrible,very stringy.I never get green mangoes!:(
This should be called Shilpa’s Mango Dal. Have never used so many spices with Masoor Dal before, shall try this next.
One question — can we add curry leaves and corriander leaves to the same dish ? Do you think the flavors might get masked ?
Since I do not cook much with curry leaves I am not sure
Shilpa: Sandeepa, I thought you would curse me after reading this recipe..hehe….The classic Konkani dal – daali thoy has both curry leaves, coriander leaves in it. It also has ginger. So I added same to this and some other extras. It turned out great. Usually most of the South Indian dishes have both the leaves.
I do remember that wonderful mango dal from Sandeepa. Yours looks just as yummy Shilpa.
I really like your website Shilpa.Have been thinking of writing in since a long time.
V Konkanis use a lot of coconut in everything. Bad cholestrol;).I have been trying to substitute it with coriander leaves wherever i can.
I think this recipe is gud without the coconut too.Yummy n tangy. Cheers.
We use toordal and moong dal to make mango dal. This combo is something new to me. I’m sure it tastes delicous
wow!!!!very nice dal …..looks very tasty and yummy one ….
You’re sneaky Shilpa! Ha ha ha! I understand about the awful mangos- I’ve had very good ones in Mexico- very soft and flavourful, juicy and not so much fiber as the ones sold here in the states. They look deceiving though..and once in a while I give in when they are cheap, but each time i am sooooo disappointed. I have a dipping sauce for these bad mangos when they are still crispy, so I know what you mean! Nevertheless, this looks like a good way to use them! I hope someday good mangos are available everywhere here. We’ll keep hoping…
Shilpa,
I totally agree with you..But have to say my experience wasn’t that bad. May be I get better mangoes down here in CA. Have you tried ‘kent’? Thats usually good. I have managed to pick up quite good mangoes at the Indian Stores and also in Costco!
I laughed so much at your Mango story because I had the same experience coming from Honduras (which also has beautiful mangoes) to England.
Thank you for the lovely recipes.
Dear Shilpa,
We are seeing many recipes with mango, this being the season for mangoes. This is quite similar to the Mamidikaya pappu in our Pedatha book. But there are interetsing differences including the mango variety. And your recipe story was such fun to read :).