Avakaya

The Andhra summer pickle of raw mango, Guntur chilli, and mustard powder under a seal of sesame oil

Origin: Guntur & Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India

From the journey of Chilli Pepper.

Avakaya is the pickle of Andhra Pradesh and it is made in quantities that startle outsiders: not a jar but a ceramic jaadi holding several kilograms, put up in the heat of May and June when the raw mangoes come in, and expected to last the year. The name is a plain description of the two things in it. Ava is mustard and kaya is an unripe fruit, so the word means mustard-and-raw-mango, and coarsely ground mustard, avapindi, is as central to it as the fruit. Against those two sits the third element and the reason the pickle is the colour it is: an enormous quantity of red chilli powder, from the district that grows more chillies than anywhere else on earth. Making it is a household event with rules that are followed exactly, and every one of them is about water. Nothing wet may touch the pickle at any stage. The mangoes are wiped rather than washed, the jar is dried in the sun, the spoon is dry, and the hands are dry, because a single drop of water will spoil several kilograms of work within a fortnight. The oil is the seal: it must stand above the surface at all times and is topped up as the mango absorbs it. The cut is particular too. The mango is chopped through the stone with a cleaver so that each piece keeps a fragment of the hard inner shell attached, called the tenka, which holds the piece together through months of curing and is considered the best part to chew on afterwards. It is eaten in very small quantities with hot rice and a spoonful of ghee, at the beginning of a meal, and a Telugu household will judge another's cooking by it. There are recognised variants: bellam avakaya sweetened with jaggery, nuvvula avakaya with ground sesame, and a garlic version from the Rayalaseema districts.

Ingredients

Mango

  • 1 kg raw sour green mangoes, firm, chopped through the stone into 4 cm pieces with the inner shell left on

Spice Mix

  • 200 g Guntur red chilli powder
  • 150 g mustard powder, coarsely ground (avapindi)
  • 180 g non-iodised rock or sea salt
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp fenugreek seeds, lightly toasted and ground

Oil

  • 400 ml cold-pressed sesame oil (gingelly oil)

Optional

  • 20 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole, optional

Method

  1. Wipe the mangoes clean with a dry cloth. Do not wash them. Chop each through the stone with a heavy cleaver into 4 cm pieces, keeping a fragment of the hard inner shell attached to each piece, and discard the soft kernel inside.
  2. Spread the pieces on a dry cloth in the shade for two to three hours until every cut surface is completely dry to the touch.
  3. Meanwhile combine the chilli powder, mustard powder, salt, turmeric, and ground fenugreek in a large dry bowl and mix thoroughly.
  4. Add about half the sesame oil to the spice mix and work it in until you have a thick, dark, crumbly paste.
  5. Add the mango pieces and the garlic if using, and turn everything with a dry hand or a dry wooden spoon until every piece is completely coated.
  6. Pack tightly into a sterilised, thoroughly dried ceramic or glass jar, pressing down to remove air pockets, and pour the remaining oil over so it stands at least two fingers above the surface.
  7. Cover the mouth with a clean dry cloth, tie it, and leave in a warm place for three days. Then turn the contents with a dry spoon, seal properly, and leave for a further ten days.
  8. Taste after two weeks. It is ready when the mango has softened at the edges but still has bite and the oil has turned deep red. Store in a cool dark place.

Notes

Sour green mangoes of a pickling variety are sold by South Asian grocers in early summer; the Telugu favourites are collector and jalal. The fruit must be hard and genuinely sour, since a mango with any sweetness in it will ferment. Use non-iodised salt. Iodised salt discolours the pickle and can turn it bitter over months. Sesame oil is traditional and its flavour is part of the pickle; groundnut oil is the usual alternative. Neither should be refined and tasteless. It keeps for a year or more in a cool dark place and improves for the first three months. If the oil ever smells rancid or fuzzy growth appears above the surface, discard the jar. Eaten in small quantities with hot rice and ghee, and with pappu or curd rice. Bellam avakaya adds 150 g of powdered jaggery to the spice mix for a sweet-hot version, and nuvvula avakaya adds 100 g of ground toasted sesame.

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