Maangai Morekootan (Keralan Green Mango Curry)

I don't tend to make mango curries very often. They usually call for green/unripe mangoes, which can be hard to find here unless you buy them frozen. Unfortunately the frozen ones come pre-chopped but not peeled. Given that, I tend to just avoid the mango curries altogether unless I happen to see some nice-looking unripe mangoes at the grocery store. Which is exactly what happened here.

The mango that I used probably wasn't as green as it should've been. But I actually kind of liked that. It wasn't ripe, but it also wasn't quite as tart as a fully green one would've been. I thought it worked very well!

Maangai Morekootan

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 2 c. water, divided
• 1 green (unripe) mango, peeled and diced
• 1 c. fresh shredded coconut (or 1/2 c. dried shredded coconut, reconstituted)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 25 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves, divided
• 3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/mapte beans)

Directions

1. Rinse the pigeon peas well.
2. Add 1 c. of the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Discard and foam that forms on the surface and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender (~20 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 c. of water with the mango and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
6. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until water has almost entirely evaporated and mango is tender (~15 minutes).
7. Once the pigeon peas are tender, transfer them (along with any remaining cooking water) to a blender.
8. Add the coconut, cumin seeds, 15 of the curry leaves, and the chilies and purée to make a slightly gritty paste.
9. Pour the purée into the pan with the mango.
10. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
11. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
12. Add the black lentils and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds.
13. Remove from heat and add the remaining 10 curry leaves.
14. Pour the mustard seed mixture over the curry and stir to combine.
15. Cook the curry, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes longer.