Mango Tokku or Mango relish

Now that we are officially into Spring, I get green mangoes every week from my local Indian grocery store and we have been having a parade of dishes featuring these beauties. The green mangoes we get are not as tart as the ones I have seen in India but they are much bigger.

Tokku is a close relative of the more popular pickle. Though mango pickles of all forms of shape hit the market in their pretty bottles many years ago, tokku took time before it was bottlized (is that even a word :-)) but we grew up licking tokku on the side with curd rice.  The taste comes from the right(what you like) combination of tart mango, red chili powder, salt and the flavor from fenugreek and mustard. Tokku typically has very few ingredients, end product is a concentrate meant to be used conservatively.

I made this a week back and as I am writing this post, BH is looking over my shoulder and saying 'When did you make tokku?', he is the one who licked that bowl clean and I know it is a masked request for 'make it again' :-)

What do you need to make Mango Tokku? 
1 big firm green mango (see note below)
1 Tblsp red chili powder
2 Tblsp cooking oil
1 Tblsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
1/4 Tsp mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp asafoetida powder
1/2 Tsp turmeric powder

Seasoning/vaggarane: 
1 Tsp cooking oil
1 Tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves

How do you make Mango Tokku?

• Wash, peel and grate the mango.
• Heat a heavy bottom pan, dry roast the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds on medium heat until they start to pop.

• Take them aside, let it cool, powder it in a coffee grinder or mortar & pestle.
• Heat oil in the pan, add the mango gratings, turmeric powder, salt and cook it covered for 5 minutes. 
• When the mango softens up, add red chili powder, asafoetida and continue to cook uncovered.

• The ingredients in the pan come together getting a pulpy consistency, leaving oil on the sides, takes about 20-25 minutes. Keep mixing frequently and take care not to burn it from bottom.
• When oil starts to ooze from the sides, add the fenugreek powder, mix well and switch off. 

• Make vaggarane by heating oil, adding mustard and curry leaves. Once mustard crackles, switch off, pour it over the thokku, mix well. 
• Let the tokku cool completely before storing in a dry jar. 
• It will stay fresh for upto a week in the refrigerator and about 3 days outside.
• This tokku will brighten up your chapathis, bread toasts, idli or dosa any time of the day.

Notes: 

• When I say big mango, I am thinking the ones we get here in US which is about the same size as the omelet mango you get back in India. The gratings should be 2 tightly packed cups. 
• Adding vaggarane/seasoning is completely optional but enhances the flavor.
• I add asafoetida while cooking the mango as it incorporates well in the tokku. 
• Keep the mustard in the powder about half or less that of fenugreek seeds.