After musing for a while about starting my own blog, I decided to do it finally after reading about RCI in Latha’s Masala Magic. What better event to kick off my blog with than one about my own state’s cuisine? So here I start my blog with that one special thing everyone from Andhra craves for. Its the one and only Avakaya.

   Summer is the season for making Avakaya and storing them till the next summer. Making the traditional avakaya needs very good kind of mangoes which come into the market in India around the first week of may. Ugadi is the time ( mid march to mid april) when we start seeing mangoes in the market. So the time from ugadi till the new avakaya is ready in that summer( end of may – early june) is the time to enjoy some kinds of pickles because they cannot be stored for long periods. My mom used to make many differnt kinds of short term avakayas with mangoes like menthi mukkalu, pulihara avakaya and kotha avakaya.   Summer time is the time when we used to eat perugu annam with mavidi pandu ( mango) and one of these short term avakayas.

   So today I am starting my blog with a very simple Avakaya recipe. This pickle is not the traditional Mango pickle but equally tasty and comparatively very easy to make.  Its called Pulihara Avakaya. Its so called because the popu/tadka is exactly the same as we use for pulihara. This is my contribution to RCI Andhra Cuisine hosted by Latha of Masala Magic.

Here’s the Recipe:

 Ingredients:-

1 tsp Avalu/Mustard Seeds 

Pinch of Hing

2 -3 Red Chillies

1 Tbsp Senagapappu/Chana Dal

7 -8 Curry Leaves

 2 Tsp Nulapodi ( optional )

1 Tsp Avapodi / Mustard seeds powder

1 Tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt and Chilly Powder

 Oil

1 Raw Mango  

Method:

   Cut the Raw mango in to very small pieces as shown in the picture above. Add salt, chilli powder, turmeric, nulapodi and avapodi to it. Heat oil in a pan ( I used Nuvvula nune). Add chana dal, when it starts changing color add mustard seeds, hing, red chillies and curry leaves. Mix very well ans stire it in an airtight container. Mix it once every 10 – 12 hours for 2 days. Pulihara avakaya is ready to enjoy. It tastes great with peru annam ( curd rice) and with tiffins like dosa, upma etc. .

  Avapodi is nothing but powdered mustard seeds. Fry the mustard seeds without oil and grind it to make a very fine powder.

 Pulihara Avakaya is good for 10 days outside and one month, when stored in the refrigerator. This avakaya is so good that we finish it off before having to store it in the refrigerator.