Appe Huli /Raw Mango Rasam

For those in the United States hope you had a wonderful long Easter weekend. We had a relaxing three days, giving us a break from the hectic and sometimes crazy weekdays. The weather was perfect; not too hot or cold, accompanied with a beautiful sunshine that lifted the spirits up.

 For most part I stayed away from the kitchen; surviving many times on Maggi or takeout food. But on days when I cooked, I made something quick and delicious reminiscent of the carefree days of the past. 

Appe Huli is speciality of the Havyakas residing in the Yellapur, Sirsi, Sagar /Malnad regions of Karnataka. Think of this as a raw mango soup which has the flavour combination of spicy, sweet and sour. Serves well as side dish with plain hot rice, or with spicy pongal. In fact I would not mind eating this as a side dish for Rotis/Cahapathis.
Ingredients:

• 1 Raw Mango
• 1 tsp urad daal
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1-2 dry red chilies (broken into pieces)
• 1-2 green chillies (slit)
• 4-5 curry leaves
• a pinch of Hing/Asafetida
• A pinch turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Jaggery (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tbsp Oil 

Method: 

• Wash the mango and chop the raw mango into cubes (along with the skin).
• In a sauce pan boil some water, add the chopped mango, salt and slit green chillies and continue until it is cooked.
•  Let this cool. Do not throw the cooked water. Now remove the skin from the cooked mango pieces and mash the flesh well. (Note: I remove the green chillies and pulse it one time in a blender).
• Transfer this back to the cooked water and over the stove on medium heat. Add little more water turmeric, jaggery salt to bring to rasam consistency and boil.
• In a separate pan prepare a seasoning. Heat oil then add mustard seeds, urad daal, curry leaves, hing, and dried red chillies.
• Note: You could use few garlic pods for seasoning instead of the hing. This gives a different flavor to the dish.
• Add the seasoning to the boiled mango water. Switch off the heat and cover with lid.
• Serve hot with rice.