Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

Mango… I can say without any hitch or hesitation that mango is my favourite fruit. It’s not just because of its colour and taste. It is one fruit which is connected to my happy childhood memories. My childhood days I have spent almost every summer vacation in my grandma’s home. Every year me and my sister and our cousins would eagerly wait for our holidays and keep our bags ready before our exams. Right next day after our exams our uncle would come and take us to grandma’s place. We all cousins would gather there and play day in and day out. When our elders use to take siesta in hot afternoon we would go to our mango groves and collect basketful of mangoes for my grandma who would cook delicious items using them. The choices are numerous: Pickles, Mambla (made using mango pulp and sun dried), Gojju, Sasame, Papadam, Sambar, Rasam, Raita etc. It’s a never ending list of delicious mango delicacies.

Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

Today I am posting the recipe of Mango rice which has been my favourite rice items from mom’s kitchen. My mother usually makes this during Ugadi which is a new year in Hindu calendar. This sweet and tangy rice is very simple to make and takes very little time. You can prepare it using left over rice too. Serve it with any Pickle and Raita or just plain Yogurt of your choice.

Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

Ingredients:
2 cups Rice
1 large half ripe Mango, grated
2 medium Onions, finely chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 tbsp Mint Leaves, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp Lemon Juice (Adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp sugar (Optional)
1 tbsp Channa Dal
1 tbsp Urad Dal
1 tbsp Mustard
1 Dry Red Chilly
Few Curry Leaves
Pinch of Hing/Asafoetida
Salt to taste
2+1 tbsp Ghee

Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

Method:
Soak rice in water for half an hour, wash and drain water and keep it aside.
In a pressure cooker heat 2 tbsp of ghee and add washed rice to it.
Mix the rice till every grain is covered with ghee.
Add salt and enough water (4 cups) and close the lid and pressure cook till it’s done.
In a mean while, heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan and add channa dal, urad dal, red chilly, mustard, hing and curry leaves.
When mustard starts sputtering, add onion, green chilli and ginger and cook till onions turn translucent.
Add grated mango, mint leaves, coriander leaves, sugar, turmeric powder and sauté it in medium flame for 1-2 minutes.
Turn off the gas and add lemon juice and mix it well with cooked rice. If you are using raw mango then add lemon juice according to taste.
Serve hot with raita and pickle of your choice.

Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

I served tangy mango rice with sweet cucumber-mint raita. This is one of my favourite raitas which can be prepared within five minutes. Nothing can beat the refreshing taste of cucumber-mint raita.

Cucumber-Mint Raita

Ingredients:
1 Cucumber
1 tsp Mint Paste
2 cups Yogurt
Salt to taste

Mango Rice with Cucumber-Mint Raita

Method:
Grate the cucumber and mix it with yogurt, mint paste and salt to taste.
If you like it spicy, add finely chopped green chillies or season it with mustard, urad dal and red chilly.
Chill it before serving.

Akki Pundi (Rice Dumplings)

In today’s menu I am going to present authentic, traditional Mangalorean recipe of Akki Pundi (Rice Dumplings). This was the first time I tried making this and boy! They were so simple and easy to cook. There is no frying, rolling and no sweating or swearing ;) Everything went so smoothly and I really-really managed to produce perfect Pundis. Thanks to my MIL who gave me simple yet best recipe to make perfect Akki Pundis. I served them with delicious bowl of onion-potato Sambar, Rave (pronounced as ra-way) which is made from jaggary and onion pakodas (oh!!! It’s difficult to stay away from fried food :) This time I made Onion Pakoda’s using Asha’s recipe and boy, they were yummylicious :) Thank you Ashakka for yummy recipe. And these pakodas are my entry for Coffee’s MBP.

Akki Pundi served with Potato-Onion Sambar and Onion Pakodas

There are different ways of making Akki Pundi’s and this is my MIL’s version. I will post my Amma's version sometime later.

Akki Pundi and Onion Pakoda

Ingredients:
2 cups Rice
Salt to taste

Akki Pundi ready for steam cooking

Method:
Wash rice and spread it on clean cloth to dry.
Once all the water is dried up, grind the rice without adding water coarsely. Make sure that you don’t grind it to smooth powdery texture. I usually grind the rice grains to khus-khus sized granules.
In a mean while, pour 3 glasses of water and salt to taste in thick bottomed vessel and bring it to boil.
As soon as the water is hot enough add ground rice and keep mixing the mixture making sure that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Cook this mixture over a medium flame, stirring continuously till solid enough to be rolled into balls. (It took me around 8-10 minutes)
Make small lemon-sized balls by wetting your hands in cold water.
Arrange them in a steamer and steam cook for about 15 minutes in medium heat.
Let it cool down a bit before you serve them.
Serve them with any Sambar, Kurma, Honey or Chutneys.

Akki Pundi served with Potato-Onion Sambar and Onion Pakodas

Tips:
Once you mix the hot water and rice flour you can shift the mixture into microwave bowl and cook it in microwave for about 10 minutes. Make sure that you mix the mixture once in every 3 minutes so that it’s mixed evenly.
You can also cook the Pundi’s in microwave for 8-10 minutes using Microwave Idli Maker.
To make spicy Pundi’s, season mustard, urad dal, broken red chillies and curry leaves. Add this seasoning to the water along with rice in the beginning and then proceed with the next steps.
You can also add ½ cup of freshly gated coconut to the mixture.

Akki Pundi served with Potato-Onion Sambar and Onion Pakodas