Mango Rice or Mavinakayi Chitranna for Ugadi

We are into the week after Ugadi but I am still posting about my Ugadi menu :-). That is the spirit right? stretching the joys of life as long as you can. But this will be my last of the posts for 2012 Ugadi.

In Karnataka, mango rice or mavinakayi chitranna is made a few different ways, the one I have today is my favorite, it is called hasi saasive (raw mustard) mango rice. The marriage of raw mustard and sour green mangoes in this rice dish is heavenly.

Growing up I had seen nammamma choose different varieties of green mango for different purposes, she would want the really sour ones for pickling and chitranna while the tender, sweeter ones would be cut up and smeared with spices and eaten just like that :-). I don't have so much choice here so I pick the green mangoes of any size and shape and hope it does the trick. I had got some really nice green mangoes this time around Ugadi and gladly used it in Ugadi pachadi, Mango Dal and Mango Chitranna.

What do you need to make Mango rice? 
2 cups of cooked rice - use sona masoori or similar varieties
1 medium sized green mango - washed, peeled and grated about 2 cups of gratings
1 Tblsp mustard seeds
4-5 dry red chilies
3 Tblsp of grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp cooking oil

For vagagrane/seasoning: 

1 Tblsp cooking oil

1 Tsp mustard seeds/saasive
1 Tblsp chana dal
2 Tblsp raw peanuts
1 sprig of curry leaves (5-6 leaves)
1/2 Tsp turmeric powder

How do you make Mango rice? 

• Take red chilies and mustard seeds into a blender and pulse it a few times to break the mustard seeds. 
• Add grated mango reserving 1 Tblsp of it for garnish, coconut, salt and a Tblsp of water and grind it into a chutney like consistency. 

• Heat a pan on medium heat, add a Tsp of oil and pour the ground chutney into it. 
• Stir frequently on medium heat until water evaporates and raw mustard smell goes away. 
• Cook rice so the grains are separate. 
• Spread the rice to cool down in a large bowl. Pour the chutney on top of the rice and let it cool down completely. 

• Prepare vaggarane - Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, chana dal and peanuts and fry till mustard and peanuts pop. 
• Switch off and add turmeric powder and curry leaves. 
• Pour the sizzling vaggarane on top of the rice and gently work the chutney and vaggarane into the rice taking care not to mush up the rice. 
• Garnish with the reserved mango gratings at the end.
• Let the mango rice sit for about 30 minutes before serving. 

Tips:

• Add a couple of drops of oil while cooking rice to get fluffy, grain-separated rice. 
• The chutney when you grind it should be strong in spices as it mellows down on mixing with rice. Adjust red chilies, salt or mango to suit your taste. 
• Use additional red chili powder if you want it spicier but note that mustard gives a strong flavor to the rice and you do not want to over power it with the chilies.
• The sourness comes from the mango, choose firm, green mangoes that are tart in taste. 

Here is another look at my Ugadi platter