Raghavan Iyer's Green Mangoes with a Yogurt-Toasted Coconut Sauce from 660 Curries

Gah!  I know it's been over 2 months since I last posted.  My computer died and for a while we thought it was completely kaput, but it turns out some love at the (look-alike) Apple store did it some good ... so now we're up and running and I have a lot of backlog topics I really want to share with you all... so bare with me as I get through it all. 

Last weekend, my husband bought mangoes at the fresh market in Wonsel and while one of them was this delicious, juicy, sweet mango.... the other, unfortunately and disappointingly (!) was not ripe enough.  In seeing that it wasn't ready for eating, I quickly consulted my good old Indian curry cook book, 660 curries... thinking if I was going to find a mango curry, it would only be there!  I was in luck, as you can see from the photo below, and this dish was soooooo delicious!  The combination of the tart and sweet mango with the savory and nutty taste of the coconut flakes and coconut milk were an awesome combination!  There was a lot of heat in this dish which contrasted to the sweetness of the mango and the creaminess of the coconut milk well.  DELISH!

So, here's the recipe: 

Green Mangoes with a Yogurt-Toasted Coconut Sauce

Ingredients: 

• 2 large green (unripe) mangoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I used 1 green mango, because that's what was available to me and it was slightly ripened... i.e. the flesh had some sweetness, but you wouldn't have found it very good to eat plain)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1 cup shredded fresh coconut (I used coconut flakes, the were not fresh, but they weren't dried such that they needed to be reconstituted - they are for snacking, but you know.... )
• 1 tablespoon yellow split peas
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
• 1 or 2 fresh green thai chilies (or whatever type of spicy chili you have available, add to your taste level) 
• 1 or 2 dried Thai chilies (or whatever type of spicy chili you have available, add to your taste level; I used Italian pepporncini since that's what we currently have in the house!)
• 1 tablespoon crumbled (or chopped) jaggery or firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup thick yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
• 1/2 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds (I used black, for no particular reason as I have both)
• 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Directions: 

1. Combine the mangoes, salt turmeric, and 3 cups of water in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Continue to boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes are tender but still firm looking, about 8 to 10 minutes. 
2. In the meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the coconut, split peas, peppercorns, and the fresh and dried chilies, and stir-fry until the coconut is toasted (brown colored), and the chilies are blistered slightly.  Approximately 5 minutes. 
3. Drain the mangoes reserving 1 cup of the yellow broth they cooked in. 
4. Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved mango broth into the coconut mixture and scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it, releasing any browned bits of coconut.  Transfer the mixture to a blender jar and puree until a gritty like past speckled with spices. 
5. Return the drained mangoes to the same saucepan thy cooked in, and add the coconut paste (I used a plastic spatula - typically used for baking - to get all of the paste out of the jar).  Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of reserved broth into the skillet. Add the brown sugar and stir in.  Cook the mixture over medium heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally (until the jaggery dissolves, if using).  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. 
6. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  Once warm, add mustard seeds and cover quickly.  Allow the mustard seeds to stop popping and then add the fenugreek seeds.  The fenugreek seeds will quickly brown and emit a nutty smell.  Remove from heat and pour over the curry.  Stir to combine and serve! 

I looked in the book for a recommendation of what to serve this curry with and didn't find anything.  I ended up choosing white rice, which worked out really well as it mopped up the curry pretty well without changing the taste of it! 

Hope you try it!  Happy curry-ing!