The Karadi Athaana My Family Waits for All Year

We eat a lot of mango pickles at home, but this is the one that everyone always gets excited about. Keri nu athaana, by my grandaunt Lakshmi. We call it Karadi athaana because she lived in Karadi, and she’d make it once a year, to distribute to the entire extended family. Everyone has a different way of eating too; my grandfather likes it in chopped into small pieces, my father eats only the masala. I enjoy it with a bit of extra mango peel.

This is spicy, tangy pickle, with a gentle sweetness that comes from peanut oil. And the addition of castor oil makes it easy on the digestive system, especially in summer.

Ingredients

5 kg raw mangoes (preferably, young raw mangoes)
850 g rock salt
750 g split fenugreek seeds
750 g chilli flakes
1 kg castor oil
3 kg peanut oil
100 g asafoetida

Method

Wash the mangoes thoroughly. Then dry them to ensure no residual water remains on the skin
Heat the peanut oil, but don't let it smoke. Then allow it to cool
Rub the mangoes and the pickle jar with castor oil, to coat well
Make 2 cuts on the mango; both should go halfway through on opposite sides and not cut through the pip
Stuff the mango with the masala mix
At the bottom of the pickle jar, place a layer of the masala mix, then begin stacking the stuffed mangoes vertically in the jar
After every 2 layers of mangoes, sprinkle more masala mix
Once all the mangoes are in the jar, pour the cooled peanut oil so that the mangoes are fully submerged. Allow to rest for at least two days before you start eating it.

Photos and recipe by Krishni Shroff. Krishni is a bread baker with The Flourists, and lives between Kutch and Mumbai.

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