Mango pickle is one of the most commonly made condiment in Indian homes. Each region has a different recipe, style or way of making it. AVAKAYA is a popular pickle variety from ANDHRA CUISINE, a cuisine well-known for its hot & spicy foods.
Avakaya is one of the regularly used condiment to accompany rice, ghee and plain dal in most Telugu speaking homes. I had a few requests last summer for avakaya recipe but could not share it.
I did share this simple Instant mango pickle recipe which I make at home here in Singapore.
Making Andhra mango pickle is not difficult, using the right proportion of ingredients and then bringing them together in a Bharani or a jaadi is all that is needed.
It is super simple to make but avakaya is mostly not made in small portions hence it becomes a tedious task.
It has a good shelf life of a year without refrigeration if the entire process is followed carefully. My mum used to make this pickle with 75 to 100 mangoes every summer.
For years I have carried away a portion of that each time I traveled back from India. For the past few years, I stopped carrying since I am not very good at handling them when I travel alone with 2 kids.
Last week I thought of making it myself and got this recipe from my mum and tried it with just few mangoes.
The pickle recipe I am sharing is a standard and traditional one. It is the same in almost all the homes with minor changes depending on the community or region.
For more pickle recipes, you can check
Carrot pickle
Andhra tomato pickle
Preparation to make 1 to 2 days ahead
1. Wash ceramic jars called as Bharani or jaadi or glass bottles thoroughly with diluted dishwashing soap. Make sure no dirt, grease or grim exists. Rinse thoroughly a few times.
Sundry them well until jaadi or bharani are hot. In case using glass bottle, make sure they are at least warm. Exposing them to hot sun for very long may also crack them.
After taking away from the sun, allow it to cool down completely. Cover and then set aside in a clean and dry shelf.
2. Clean and then sun dry mustard seeds, crystal salt, methi seeds and red chili powder for few hours. This is done to ensure they are moist free. Transfer them to clean and dry jars. Set them in a dry place.
3. Wash thoroughly mixie jars, 2 large utensils, a measuring cup, few spoons, a bowl and 2 large and 2 small cotton clothes. Dry them very well to make sure they are free from moisture. Store these in a dry place.
4. The pickle variety mangoes are very hard and tough to cut them correctly. In most homes men cut these with the help of a special traditional cutter.
Since I do not have this, my husband cut it with a large sharp knife. You will have to wash and sun dry the cutter or knife as well.
Note: Keep your nails trimmed, no polish, and no rings on your fingers for hygiene purpose. You will need to use clean and dry hands to mix the spice powders.
Using a ladle or a spoon may not be appropriate, especially if you make in large quantities.
How to choose mangoes for pickle
1. Choose fresh, sour, hard and mature raw mangoes. Special pickle variety mangoes are available in the market. They come in medium size and are dark green in color.
2. Mangoes that have fallen off the trees or the ones with bruises are not suitable to make avakaya.
3. You can also make this mango pickle using any other good sour variety mangoes that are pulpy, but I guess the taste may change after 4 to 6 months.
Andhra avakaya
Avakaya pachadi
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 4 to 6 cups cut mango pieces (refer notes)
- 2 cups oil
- 1 cup mustard powder
- 1 cup red chili powder
- ¾ cup crystal salt plus 2 tbsp
- 1.5 tsp Methi powder or methi seeds (refer notes)
- ½ cup garlic or about 70 grams (refer notes)
How to make the recipe
Preparation for avakaya pachadi
- Wash mangoes thoroughly and soak in a large wide pail or bucket for 1 hour. This is done to remove any dirt deposited on them.
- Remove them from water and allow to dry.
- Wipe them with a cloth and spread them on a large cotton cloth. They must be completely moisture free and dry.
Preparing the work area
- The place where you intend to make the pickle has to be absolutely clean, dry and free from moisture.
- Move the mangoes to this work area and all the preparation has to be done here to prevent spoilage. Get all the other things we prepared the previous day to this place .
- Remove any portions of stems still on the mangoes. Cut each mango to half, with the shell and kernel intact. Mango can also be wrapped in a cotton cloth and then halved to prevent slipping or injury. If the shell or the covering of the kernel gets separated from the pieces, then they are not used for pickle since they turn soggy and the taste of the entire pickle changes.
- With the help of a spoon, remove the kernel and discard. You can also see a thin layer in between the kernel and the inner portion of the shell. Remove that as well. Use a spoon to remove that completely. Wipe off with a clean dry cloth.
- Cut each halved mango to 2 (quarters) and then further to 3 pieces each. This way a medium sized mango gets about 12 pieces. Make sure each piece also has a shell part on it.
- Measure & place these cut pieces on a cloth or utensil.
- Peel the garlic cloves. Set them aside. We also crush lightly 10 garlic cloves. This is optional. If the garlic cloves turn green, do not use them.
- Powder the mustard seeds. Measure 1 cup and add it to a large dry utensil. Set aside the left over.
- Powder the methi seeds if using. Add this to the same utensil along with mustard powder.
- Powder the crystal salt. Measure ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp powdered salt and add it to the utensil. Also measure and add red chili powder, garlic. Mix all these.
Making avakaya or avakkai
- Pour 1½ cups oil to another dry utensil. Dunk the mango pieces in the oil a handful at one time. Take them off from the oil with a deep frying spatula or slotted spoon. Add them to the spice mix. Coat them well with spice powder and add it to the bharani/ glass jar.
- Repeat this process of dunking a handful of them in oil and then in the spice mix. Then to the bharani/ jaadi. Once you are done, there will no spice mix left. You may be short of oil for the last few batches. Then use up the rest of the half cup.
- When you are done with this, if you are left with oil or any spice powder, just add the spice powder and then pour the oil to the jar.
- Cover with a lid. Place a cotton cloth and then tie up with a cloth ribbon or a thin long piece of cloth.
- Keep this in a dry shelf for 3 full days. We wait for 72 hours.
- On the fourth day, open the lid and then mix up using a dry ladle. We use strong wooden ladles when made in large quantity.
- Taste the pickle and add little more salt if needed. Wait till the next day to check if there is a layer of oil floating on the pickle, if not add the rest of the oil.
- Do not skimp on the salt and oil, they act as natural preservatives to preserve pickle for a year. If there is not enough oil or salt, pickle may get spoilt.
Tips to follow for a good shelf life.
- Do not serve pickle directly from the jar especially if you have made in large quantity. Opening the jars frequently will diminish the quality, color and flavour of pickle. Always take a portions of this to another glass bottle for everyday use.
- Always use dry hands, ladles and spoons while handling the pickles. We usually heat them up a bit near the gas flame.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Notes
Notes on andhra mango pickle
Traditionally mango pickle is made only with 4 cups of cut mango pieces which yields a lot of gravy / oota in telugu. It is good for a family who eat lot of this hot and spicy gravy. We specifically in my mums home do not eat so much of the gravy or oota so we use 6 cups of pieces. So the proportion of gravy per piece of mango is less. To put in simple terms – “4 cups yields less mango pieces with more gravy, 5 to 6 cups yield more pieces with just a moderate amount of gravy”. My MIL and my other extended families prepare with 4 cups of pieces. I have eaten that as well. It tastes a bit more pungent and strong. Use your judgement for this. You can use any cup size but make sure you use the same cup for measuring all the ingredients. If using more mangoes, use a larger cup or bowl to measure. You will have to increase the quantity of methi seeds proportionately. The quantity mentioned in the recipe is for a 240 ml cup. Same with garlic, 70 grams for 240 ml measument. You can also use same cup used to measure mangoes – we need half cup garlic cloves. You can also reduce this slightly, this is on the higher side.If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
Bhavana says
Hi….my pickle is a bit salty…. anything I can do to fix it… please help.
swasthi says
Hi Bhavana,
Usually some amount of salt is absorbed by the mango and over all the salty taste comes down after 1 month. We usually feel the pickle has very low salt so we add more salt at that time. You can wait for a month and check or you can fix it by following these tips.
1. Make another small batch of the same pickle without salt and mix it.
2. Another easier method is to simply add more chilli powder, mustard, methi seeds powder, garlic and oil. Follow the same proportion of the ingredients as mentioned in the recipe. Hope this helps.
Merunalini says
Shall we add cooled hot water if it’s very thick
swasthi says
Hi,
No Water in avakaya recipe. It will be dry for 3 days. Later it will release moisture. If it is too thick after 3 days then pour more oil. If you add water to the pickle it will spoil and get fungus.
N.JEEVAN says
I tried to prepare aavakaya pickle as per your blog.
I could not cut the all the mangoes into pieces with the shell intact but used the pieces for pickle.
I had a doubt whether the oil can be heated or not.But I have heated the oil and used the same.
You may kindly advise.
swasthi says
Hi Jeevan,
We keep the shell intact so that the mango pieces hold shape even when stored for a year. Otherwise the pieces turn mushy and alters the taste after 6 to 8 months. We usually set aside such pieces, then pickle them separately and finish up within 1 to 2 months.
We do not heat the oil. We open a new pack or bottle of oil and use it directly. Using a new bottle ensures the oil is not exposed to any moisture. So prevents any spoilage. Heating only alters the taste of the oil so it should be fine if you have cooled it and used. Hope this helps.
Krithika says
Thank u mam
Lucky to have your website
Recipes ,i follow turns out very well,everytime
Really feel happy
T
Tips u give is something extraordinary, that becomes the great secret of success
Same as last time,aavakaipickle turned out very well
Thank for the confidence
Wishes
swasthi says
Hi Krithika,
You are welcome. Thanks much for the comment. Happy to know your avakaya turned out good.
🙂
Archana says
We’re trying this recipe out today. Do you dry roast the methi and mustard before powdering them?
swasthi says
Hi Archana,
Methi seeds & mustard are sun dried and then powdered. No roasting is done.
Vijay Kumar Reddy Vada says
Mam your efforts are good to new persons to learn and as well as old people to add another head in preparation pickle.any it’s very calculative and easily digested. Keep this effort always
swasthi says
Thank you so much.
Karthikeyan says
Iam Karthikeyan from Chennai , I tried your recipe out of interest after reading your recipe and after tasting it ,all those who tasted it once , started asking me how to make such tasty pickle…… give us more recipes…… even today my Amma has bought 5 kgs of raw mango asking me to do the recipe…… super☀️⚡️🌟💥
swasthi says
Hello Karthikeyan,
Awesome! So happy to read your comment. Glad you all loved it! Thanks a lot for the comment.
🙂
Bharthi Shyam says
Hi… I made this pickle. Came out very well but little oil I should add…
Do I need to pour hot oil or normal room temperature oil..???
swasthi says
Hi Bharthi
Glad your pickle came out good. Oil should be at room temperature. Do not use hot oil.
hemi dess says
Hi can you please let me know if anyone sells them in Australia that brand please or can i order from you thank you
swasthi says
Hi Hemi,
You are welcome. Haha! I don’t sell it. I am just a hobby blogger sharing family recipes.I guess you can find avakaya online. There are a lot of brands selling them but I don’t think they taste like the homemade avakaya.
Shyam says
how many kg mangoes u have used…”?
swasthi says
Hi Shyam,
Sorry I am late in replying. We make pickle with about 75 to 100 medium sized mangoes. There is no need to weigh them. For this recipe mango pieces are measured in cups or bowls so the weight doesn’t matter.
Sabeetha Shyam says
Hi Swathi,
I have a doubt, according to the recipe if I use 5 to 6 cups of mangoes,do I use 1.5 TSP methi seeds and 70 grams of garlic and all the other ingredients as mentioned.
Or is it 1 .5 tsp methi seeds for 1 cup mango?
Waiting for your reply.
Thank you
swasthi says
Hi Sabeetha,
For 4 to 6 cups of mango pieces you will need to use 1.5 tsp methi seeds and 70 grams garlic. Cup size is 240 ml.