Mango Rice Recipe

Mango rice is a South Indian dish made with precooked rice, raw green mangoes, tempering spices and curry leaves. This mango rice is simple to make and is similar to the way we make Lemon Rice and Coconut Rice. It tastes tangy, slightly hot and flavorsome. It’s delicious on its own and you won’t need any sides at all. If you prefer something on the side, serve it with crispy papads, chips, Pakora or Masala Vada. Also a bowl of fresh yogurt or a Vegetable Salad makes your meal complete & more filling.

Indians make plenty of dishes with raw green mangoes when they are in season. Apart from this mango rice, Mango Pickle, Mango Dal, Mango Chutney, Aam panna are some of the many ways to use green unripe mangoes.

Mango Rice

Mango rice is a popular summer dish commonly made in the Southern Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is a dish made primarily with rice, green unripe sour mangoes, herbs and spices. In Telugu it is Known ad Mamidikaya pulihora and in Karnataka it is known as Mavinakayi Chitranna.

As with many other dishes, mango rice is also made in numerous ways and every region and household may have a different way to make it. The recipe shared here is the way my Mom would make and you will surely love this for its simplicity.

Remember the lovely flavors of South Indian tempering? Fresh curry leaves, ginger, green chilies, lentils and mustard seeds together fried in oil releases plenty of flavors. This dish has exactly the same flavors with an extra punch from the mangoes.

For this we first cook the rice to a grainy texture but fully cooked like it is done for lemon rice or any variety rice dishes. We temper the spices and then cook the mangoes in the tempering.

It is then later mixed with the precooked rice. You can also make this mixture ahead, cool and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator for few weeks. Use it when required to mix with your precooked rice.

Basically any kind of sour mangoes that are unripe are best to use in this recipe. On occasions I have also made this with about to ripen mangoes and it tastes just good as long as the mango is still sour.

How to Make Mango Rice (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. This recipe makes about 4 servings, you can scale down as needed. But the amount of mango to use depends on the variety or sourness of the mango. Wash, soak and cook 2 cups rice the way you would cook your rice regularly. The cooked rice must be grainy, yet fully cooked and not mushy. Cool it down.

2. Wash, peel and grate a mango. If you have a food processer you can also just add the mango pieces and grate them. Update: Lately I have started to make this rice with cooked mango. I just peel, chop and add the pieces to a bowl. Cover and place it in the pressure cooker over the rice bowl (PIP). Once cooked I mash it and use below.

Tempering

3. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry peanuts on a medium heat until golden and aromatic. Remove them to a plate for garnishing later.

4. Pour another 2 tablespoons oil. Add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and red chilies.

5. Add thinly sliced ginger (optional), chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Saute everything until the curry leaves turn crisp. Add hing. I usually set aside some of the fried green chilies to add at a later stage if needed.

6. Lower the heat completely and add mango (grated or cooked), salt and turmeric.

7. Mix and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

8. Skip this step if using pressure cooked mangoes. Lower the flame completely and cook covered. Stir in between. Mango must be cooked completely, turn soft & begin to leave the sides of the pan. If your mango is very dry with no moisture to cook, you may sprinkle a tbsp of water. Stir and cook covered.

9. At this step you can also add a generous pinch of mustard powder. It is optional. If you like to save it for later use, Once cooled completely you can store it in a glass jar and refrigerate.

To make Karnataka style mavinakayi chitranna, add 1 cup grated coconut and handful of finely chopped coriander leaves towards the end of sautéing the mango.

Make Mango Rice

10. Add this little by little to the cooled rice and mix well. Taste test and adjust salt and oil. Do not use less oil, the rice will turn out very dry.

12. Add more mango & mix as required until it comes to your liking. Mix it up gently. I used up the entire cooked mango mix here. You may be left with more mango mixture if your mango is too sour, you can bottle that and refrigerate. Use within few weeks.

Garnish with roasted peanuts. Serve mango rice with papad or veg salad.

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