Mangoes make the soaring temperatures of summer bearable. Some mangoes arrive early in the season and for some we have to wait till the end. But there is one kind that arrives very early, stays in season just for a short period and is gone before we even realise it. Luckily, they can be bottled and savoured through the year until the next season.
Nothing evokes summer better than the bright green and tender vadu mangai. It is a favourite in many households and kindles a childlike emotion even among adults. These baby mangoes are pickled in multiple ways and stored in glass or ceramic containers, right at the start of the hot months. There is the spicy kind — red hot with chilli powder or pickled with mustard and buttermilk — and then there is the lime juice-and-salt marinade.
Due to poor rainfall over the past few months, the vadu mangai season is expected to be short this year. There are two distinct varieties available in the vicinity of Coimbatore. The closest to Coimbatore, and the one that appears in the markets first, is the Thadagam variety. The second and more popular variety is the one from the Thirumoorthy Hills, near Udumalpet. Representatives from commercial pickle brands whisk these mangais away in big lots directly from the wholesalers. Only a small portion of the year’s harvest trickles down to the local markets.
Some like it red
Small vendors bring sacks full of these tiny tender mangoes to one particular street corner in Ram Nagar during the season. The corner of Rajaji Road and Sathyamurthy Road plays host to these vendors from as early as 7.00 am every day. Depending on the quantity they have, the mangais are available until around 11.00 am. If the vendors have a good day and their produce is sold quickly, they pack up and leave even as early as 9.00 am.
I arrived early one morning at this landmark to find one vendor with vadu mangai from Thirumoorthy Hills. He assured me that they were the first lot of the season and, before I could ask any more questions, he quickly wiped a mangai clean, cracked it open to release the aroma and handed it over for a taste. Lured by the heady aroma, I could not resist breaking off a piece for a taste of the crunchy and sour mangai. And of course I bought them. One can’t walk away from there without buying them after a taste. The vadu mangais are usually measured by the padi that is equivalent to about four standard cups. The mangais are heaped into a padi and then transferred into bags.
There were a few dried red chillies scattered among the vadu mangais in the vendor’s sack. When asked about it, he said “The red chillies are used to ward of the evil eye (drishti). These mangais go into making pickles that are meant to last for months. If the passers-by cast their drishti on these mangais, the pickles will spoil quickly.”
A cup full of tender mangoes
These mangais are harvested from trees that grow along the streams in the foothills. They grow wild; some are gigantic and remarkable specimens. If you have trekked or picnicked along the foothills of the Western Ghats, would have seen a few of these magnificent vadu mangai trees. The fruits are harvested by pruning the branches, as it is near impossible to pluck these tiny tender mangoes, one by one.
Vadu mangai pickled in a bottle is the quintessential way to capture the fragrance and spirit of summer and make it last till the next one.
Palakkad vadu mangai pickle
Put whole mangais with lime juice and rock salt in a clean and sterile glass bottle.
Set it aside for a couple of days at room temperature and store in the fridge.
Goes with curd rice, curd upma or curd semiya. A few pieces minced and stirred into Kambu Koozhu elevates the dish.
Pickled!
Napoleon Bonaparte had offered to pay 12,000 francs to the person who could come up with the best way to pickle and preserve food for his troops. In 1809, French chef and confectioner Nicolas Appert won the challenge
