Mango Ginger, it turns out, is neither in the Mango family (which is obvious, because it does not look anything like it), nor it belongs to the ginger family. It is , in fact, turmeric family. So my Indian grocers did name it correctly.  After I wrote this sentence and I googled Mango Ginger. Wiki asserts that it is of the Ginger family. Well, I am not a botanist, what do I  know?

Back to my story, It was lying in my fridge for 3 days and I was trying to find the right time to make it. Then I realised that I have to leave for my 5 week vacation in exactly 3 days and my gorgeous find is just money down the drain. Hence one morning, when I should have really been packing my lunch for work, I set about making this pickle. It needs a lot of work, but it tastes good never the less. I froze it for my vacation and moved it back to the fridge when I came up. It kept well. Try it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Mango Ginger – 1/4 pound (I guess)
• Turmeric powder – 1 tbsp
• Tamarind Paste – 2 Tbsp
• Salt to Taste
• Asafetida – a pinch
• Oil  – 1/4 Cup
• Mustard seeds – 1 Tsp
• Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp
• Urad Dhaal – 2 tbsp

Putting It together

• Wash the mango ginger in water to remove any dirt present (scrub it down if necessary)
• With a sharp spoon, scrape the skin of the ginger. If you use a peeler, you will end up wasting a lot. This is a tedious process, I tell ya!!
• Grind it to a paste ( I grated it, but I think it would be better to just grind it)
• In a heavy bottomed pan, add the  oil and let it become hot
• Add the mustard seeds and when it sputters, add the urad dhaal
• Once the dhaal turns brown, add in the mango ginger
• Add in the tamarind paste, turmeric, salt, asafetida and saute until the whole thing is cooked
• Remove from fire and add chilli powder
• Put it in a mason jar, top it off with a little oil and enjoy

Oh BTW, if you are considering buying one, here is the guide I used.

Ingredients

For the Dosa

Yellow Split Mung Dhaal – 1 Cup

Orange Split Masoor Dhaal – 1 Cup

Salt – 2 tblsp

Chilli powder – 1 tblsp

Asafetida – a pinch

For Green Chutney

Mint Leaves – 1 Cup

Coriander Leaves – 1/4 Cup

Green chillies – 2

Salt to taste

Tamarind paste -  a pinch

Urad Dhaal – 3 tblsp

Asafetida – a pinch

For Upma

Cracked Wheat (fine) – 1 Rice Cup

Petite Diced Carrots – 1/4 Cup

Green Peas – Handful

Salt to taste

Asafetida – a pinch

Putting It together

• Dosa
  • Soak the Mung and Masoor dhaal for 6 hours in water
  • Use hot water to soak it for just 4 hours and if you want to make it instantly, use boiling water on just Mung dhaal alone for 1 hour (double the quantity)
  • Grind the dhaal and chilli powder together in to a little-less-than-perfectly-smooth paste
  • Add the salt and asafetida. This batter will keep in the fridge for 3 days (it might start to smell if you leave it longer, but it would be perfectly usable)
  • In a dry pan, fry the leaves together until it wilts slightly
• Chutney
  • Roast the urad dhaal to golden brown
  • Grind everything together with some water. It should have a pesto consistency
• Upma
  • Stir fry the carrot and peas a little bit until it is soft
  • Bring two rice cups of water to a boil (1:2 ratio) in a pot
  • When it bubble, reduce to medium heat, add all the ingredients
  • Stir it once well and cover with a lid to simmer
  • Once it absorbs all water, (test it with a fork), remove from fire and allow it to cool
  • It is ok if its cooked to a mush, it would be better for dosa
• Heat a griddle on medium
• Pour the dosa batter on the griddle with a ladle and gently spread it thin with the back of a ladle to a thin layer. Here is an youtube video that I found to demonstrate this
• With a burger-flipping-spatula check if the dosa formed a light brown layer in the bottom. Take care to not overcook it, otherwise the dosa will become stiff
• Once the dosa is set, spread the mint chutney on it, and add some upma to one half of the dosa. Do not overfill it
• Close over the dosa with one half and gently press it down
• Let it sit in the heat for some time, and then remove from fire
• Cut up in to triangles and serve with chutney (you actually wouldn’t need anything on the side)

Note : You can do the same thing with regular Dosa and sooji rava upma

All Set to go.

My Beautiful Red Peppers

Red Pepper Chutney

• Grill the red pepers and cover them in a Ziplock while they are hot.
• Once they cool down, peel the skin of them
• Grind them to a paste
• In a pot, add some oil, red pepper puree, salt to taste, 2 tbsp chilli powder and 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• Cook until the sauce boils and store in a Mason jar

Squash and Zucchini

For Vegetable Marinade

• A Cup of Yogurt
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• Soak them for 30 mins until the flavours are absorbed
• Before you throw them on the grill add salt

and Tofu…

I recently discovered that even a dirty spoon could give so much character to the pie, that I left the fork on the plate.. It looked gorgeous.

Ingredients

• One Acorn squash (or you could use pumpkins or even spaghetti squash, and as Rachel Ray says, “whatever floats your boat”! )
• Baby spinach – 1 bag
• Chick peas – 1 can
• Cracked Wheat – 1 Cup (if you like, you could use bulgar, but I prefer the fine texture of cracked wheat)
• Peanuts to garnish
• Rice flour – To bind , 2 or 3 spoons
• Onions – finely chopped – 1/4 cup
• Garlic powder – 1 tbsp
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Cumin powder – 1 tbsp

Putting It Together

• Crank up the oven to 400 deg (depends on your oven)
• Cut the acorn squash in to halves and spread olive oil in it
• Bake the squashes with cut side down on a baking plate, for about 30 mins
• Remove from the over and let it cool down
• Meanwhile in a skillet, add some olive oil and let it heat through
• Add onions, spinach, chick peas, salt and pepper and saute them
• Once they are cooked through, remove to cool down
• Soak the cracked wheat in some hot water for 15 mins and drain the water. (do not throw the water, you can use it to mix the dough)
• Once the squash is cooled, remove the squash flesh with a fork and add it to a large mixing bowl
• Add the cooked spinach mixture and the drained cracked wheat
• Add in garlic powder, enough salt and pepper to taste, chilli powder and cumin powder
• Get in to the mixture with your hands and mix them thoroughly. Add in rice flour as and when required to have a sticky doughy consistency
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread a baking dish with oil and add the pumpkin kibbeh mixture in to it.
• Put a cling wrap on the top of the mixture and with a spatula, iron out the wrinkles on the top (the cling wrap is not for baking )
• With a clean knife, divide the dough in to pies. Drizzle olive oil on top
• Bake for about 30 mins until a knife comes out clean and the sides crisp up
• Remove from fire and server with gorgeous hummus and yogurt dipping sauce (Combine yogurt, hummus, salt and pepper)
• Garnish with peanuts

This post would not be complete without talking about this gorgeous website from where I made this. You can head over to that page and make it that way too. I wouldn’t mind