Sweet and Sour Mango Pickle

In my house, pickling means hot, sweet and sour! Having these 3 or any 2 flavours is a must when it comes to pickling, especially for the people who live in Indian subcontinent.

This sweet and sour mango pickle is a version of kashmiri achar (sweet mango pickle). It's one of my favorite pickle recipes so I thought of sharing it here. I added some extra spices for a different taste.

And what's not to love about this pickle, you can store it for a long time and of course a mixture of 3 falovors is definitely tempting!

To prepare this pickle you'll need:

1. Green mango - 1000 grams
2. Salt - 4 tsp
3. Sugar - 500 grams
4. Pickle masala (spice) - 8 tsp
5. Dry red chilli - 4-5 pcs
6. Cardamom - 2 or 3
7. Cinnamon - 2 or 3
8. Mace (javitri) - 2 or 3
9. Ginger paste - 1 tsp
10. Garlic paste - 1 tsp

11. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Select green, unripened mango.Do not use ripe mango for this pickle.

Peel the mango and then cut it into thin slices. Try to keep all the slices of the same thickness.

Take all the sliced mango pieces in a bowl.

Add 3-4 tsp of salt to the mango slices. Mix them really well.

Place the bowl in a dry and cool place for 3-4 hours.

After 3 or 4 hours you'll have to drain extra water from the bowl.

Use a plastic colander to drain the extra salt water from the sliced mango.

Keep it in a dry place while preparing the other ingrdients.

This is an important step. Prepare all the masala (spice) perfectly.

You will need cardamom, cinnamon, garlic paste, ginger paste, dry red chilli, mastard seeds and javitri. Check the ingredients step for the quanitity.

To make the pickle spice you will need to mix 1 tsp (each spice powder) of all the following spice powder-

1. red chilli,
2. turmeric,
3. coriander,
4. cumin,
5. black pepper,
6. nigella seeds,
7. thymol and
8. fenugreek.

Take a saucepan and add half liter water to it.

Bring the water to boil and then put the heat to medium low.

Add 500 grams of sugar to the boiled water. Stir frequently until the sugar melts completely.

Add all the masala (except for the mixed powders) to the sugar syrup. Stir frequently until the syrup thickens.

Put the syrup on low heat for 10 minutes.

Once the syrup is enough thick and sticky add the marinated sliced mango to it. Mix them really well.

Put the heat to medium low.

Stir occassionally for the next 15 minutes.

You will have to keep the saucepan on medium heat until the syrup is almost absorbed. The mango will turn to light golden.

Turn off the heat and let it cool down. Done pickling!

Once the pickle is cool store it in a jar. This pickle can be stored for a year! But unfortunately, in my house it takes only 1 week or 2 to finish a jar (1000 grams of mango pickle)!

Enjoy!