344. chundo

chatpata delight

My all time favourite pickles are chundo and lemon. Chundo goes well with theplas, parathas, left over rotis, masala puris, plain puris and even as a spread for a sandwich. I find Tarla Dalal’s recipe for chundo absolutely perfect. However, I have made very small changes to by using a raw apple mango. I like using apple mango because firstly its not a stringy mango and because even when it is raw its not overtly sour. This means that I use a little less sugar than required. So whenever the mango season begins (we are lucky to have two seasons in a year), I make chundo. Small quantities remain fresh and I store it in the fridge for freshness.

CHUNDO (SWEET MANGO PICKLE)
Makes about 1 cupful

1 cup raw mango peeled and grated
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
¾ -1 cup white sugar
1 tbsp red chilli powder
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 one inch cinnamon sticks
8 to 10 peppercorns
6 to 8 cloves
1 dry red chilli
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Peel and grate the raw mango.
2. Add salt and turmeric powder to the mango and mix it well. Cover and leave it for 15 minutes.
3. Add sugar and mix well. Cover and leave the mixture for 30 minutes.
4. Heat oil in a wide pan.
5. When it is hot, add cinnamon, clove, red chilli and peppercorns.
6. Add cumin seeds and hing.
7. Immediately add the mango mixture.
8. Cook over low heat, stirring it occasionally.
9. Cook till small bubbles appear and the sugar has melted. When the bubbles appear, take the pan off the heat. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
10. Add chilli powder and lemon juice and mix well.
11. Let the chundo cool down a bit in the pan.
12. Store in a glass jar.

• The chundo will appear liquidy but will thicken once it cools down.
• Overcooking the chundo will cause the sugar to crystallize.
• Adding lemon juice prevents crystallization.
• Using jamming sugar if available.
• As a variation, add saffron strands and cardamom powder (1 tsp) instead of the above spices.
• To make dry fruit chundo, add ½ cup of chopped dry fruits and nuts to the kesar chundo. Use almonds, pistachios, cashew nuts, walnuts, apricots, cranberries, blueberries, raisins etc.

You may want to check out the following:

onion mango chutney

garlic coconut chutney

raiwala marcha