Recipes

Ambe Daal

In our society, we have a lot of mango trees and the managing committee annually distributes raw mangoes. I like only two specific dishes made with raw mango – one is chutney and the other is Ambe Daal, an authentic sweet and sour Maharashtrian preparation that can be eaten as a salad or with chapati or bhakari.

Ingredients

  • 250 Grams Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas)
  • 1 Kairi (Raw Mango)
  • 2-3 Dark Green Chillies
  • Fresh Kadhi Patta (Curry Leaves)
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Rai (Mustard Seeds)
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Jeera (Cumin Seeds)
  • 1/4 Tablespoon Haldi (Turmeric)
  • 1/4 Tablespoon Hing Powder (Asafoetida)
  • Salt and Sugar
  • Oil

Preparation

Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes

  1. Soak the chana daal overnight.
  2. Check the taste of kairi. It shouldn’t be too sour.
  3. Peel kairi and grate it. Remove the gutli (seed).
  4. In a mixer, blend soaked daal, chillies, grated kairi. Keep it medium coarse. Do not make a fine paste.
  5. Remove the mixture in a bowl, add salt and sugar according to your taste (it must not be too sweet).
  6. In a pan, add one tablespoon oil, curry leaves, rai, jeera, haldi (for colour) and hing for tempering. Add the mixture in the pan. Do not add water. Mix everything and then cover it with a lid for 4-5 minutes. Make sure it does not stick below.

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Ruchita Mane

I've always lived with my Nana-Nani and my Nani makes amazing food so I barely cook. I recently graduated as a Software Engineer and before I could look for a job, the pandemic broke and we were all under lockdown. The search came to a halt and the anxiety about the future hit me hard. I had to get out of that feeling so I diverted my mind into exercising, yoga, meditation and even cooking. I started with helping my Nani by chopping vegetables, making tadkas, kneading soft doughs and in no time, I was rolling round chapatis. Cooking kept my mind in the present and made me patient and consistent. My Nani is glad that I don’t make a mess while cooking anymore, that gives her great joy. My Nanaji says that he doesn’t have to go out to a restaurant because I can cook almost everything. Now I don’t want to stop cooking. Thank you, Lockdown!