It was 1 year after Stuti was born that I decided to make
avakai for myself. Till then every year we have been getting enough
avakai for the year from mom.
The idea suddenly struck in my mind that when ever I wanted avakai
I just ask mom (this is only one of the many other things that I get
from mom). When Stuti grows up she will look up to her mom for probably
as many things as I looked up to my mom.
This is when I decided I will start learning things one by one and Step-1 is
avakai. Hopefully by the time she asks me for
avakai, I will have enough experience in making it!
When I started to ask for the recipe, it sounded very hard! It seemed
like if you don't get it right, the whole thing is going to go waste!
Every one I asked said for said - 15 mangoes you need 2 glasses of chilli
powder 1 glass salt etc. as a beginner, the first question that raised
in my mind - 15 mangoes is fine, but 15 mangoes of what size? There
isn't a standard measurement for a glass either. Some have a glass that
they use only for making
avakai and its kept away after that. If its a glass of 200ml for some, then it's a glass of 300ml for the others.
A confused me spoke to my dad who has seen his mom and my mom making avakai. He said only one thing-all procedures lead to the same avakai
but what is important is standardization. You do not have control on
what kind of mangoes you get. But what's in your control is the measurements. For the first time use the approximations for your recipe and get
measurements. This made a lot of sense to me! I proceeded the same way.
I took mom's recipe and got approximately same size mangoes. Got
the same glass measurement. Got the mangoes cut. The mango pieces
weighed about 2.5kgs. Here goes the procedure.
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Ingredients: Raw mangoes - 2.5g KGs
Rai powder - 500 gms
Chilli powder - 400 gms
Salt - 700 gms
Channa - 200 gms
Fenugreek Seeds - 200 gms
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Gingerly Oil - 1.5 lts
-- Take a big basin that would take all the ingredients.
-- Mix Rai powder, Chilli powder, Salt, channa, fenugreek and turmeric.
-- Add little quantity of raw mango pieces and enough oil for the mango pieces to mix with the powder mixture.
-- Once the mango pieces are properly mixed with the powder, then add more mango pieces and little more oil and mix again. Continue this process till all the mango pieces are mixed with the powder.
Mix well in such a way that the now wet powder should be stuck to all the mango pieces.
-- Do not pour any extra oil at this point. When the mixing is done, no extra oil should be seen.
-- Take a clean ceramic container (we call in Jaadi in telugu) and pour little oil to wet the base of the container
-- Fill 1/4 of the ceramic container with the avakai mixture. Once done, pour oil on top and mix well.
-- Now fill more into the ceramic container and add more oil and mix well. Continue this process till the container is full.
-- If more avakai mixture is there then repeat the same process for another ceramic container.
The oil added should be just to mix the contents well.
-- Close the lid of the container and cover it with a cloth on tome. This is to prevent from any liquids entering the container. (this process of covering the Jaadi with a cloth is called Vaasana kattadam.)
-- Leave the container alone for 3 days. (3 days because 3 days of soaking the pieces in the oil and salt mixture will bring out all the sour in the form of juice reacted with salt and mixes with oil. This mixture is called Oota in telugu.)
-- Transfer the containts to a big basin again and mix any of the ingredients if you think they are less. Add more oil if necessary.
How to know if more oil is necessary:
-- When the avakai is mixed an transferred to the ceramic container, then there should be a layer of oil floting on top of the avakai. Avakai should not be seen unless you use a spoon. This liquid is the Oota.
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And the avakai came out really well. It got over before the year ended. Ofcourse a proud me did a lot of giving away for tastes etc.
I think I got too confident in the 2nd year. I told my parents and inlaws that I will only make the avakai
for them. My mother-in-law and me decided to do it together but that
didn't happen because of the non availability of the mangoes. So I did
it on another day. My friend Deepa came to help me out.
From the previous years recipe I calculated the rai powder, chilli powder and salt for one kg. multiplied by 6, I made avakai with 6kg mangoes.
For each Kilo of raw mango pieces you need:
200 gms of Rai powder
160 gms of chilli powder
280gms of Salt
80gms channa
80gms Fenugreek
Turmeric is approximate. (To remove the heat generated)
And here goes the results. The avakai really tastes good. Importantly, 'm satisfied with the avakai-taste, smell and texture.
I will update this blog after the year 3 avakai too. :)
More knowledge below for Avakai lovers:
Why Three Mangoes Chilli Powder:
The above measurement is only for 3 mangoes chilli powder. The quantities will vary if you are using any other chilli powder.
Reason:
Making avakai is been experimented with three mangoes chilli powder for ages and hence it is branded as the chilli powder for pickles. This particular chilli powder is made from the chillies that are available in warrangal (bajji mirchi). The spice and the texture of these chillies suites making pickles.
If any one is using MTR chilli powder or any other chilli powder they will have to keep checking on the taste while mixing the full quantity. The quantity of salt also varies so please keep a watch.
Care:
See that there is no water around when making avakai.
Using wooded spoons for mixing can be a little risky as they can contain water inside.
Use ceramic containers to store avakai. Steel, Aluminum/plastic react with salt.
The amount of oil used should only soak the contents. Too much oil can spoil the taste.
Clean each mango piece and remove the thin layer on top of the seed. Do
not use water to clean the mango pieces. Any water retention can spoil
the avakai.
Misc:
The oil should always be floating on top of the avakai. This oil acts as a layer to protect the avakai reacting with air.
The
sour nature of the mango reacts with salt and produces a liquid called
'oota' in Telugu. This liquid mixes with oil and floats on top. This mixture also helps the salt in the avakai not to react with air and get spoiled.
Every
ingredient used in avakai has its own effects (both good and bad). The
combination of the ingredients gives rise to a new effect (both good
and bad).
Any adverse effects from Avakai can be reduced with the intake of Ghee and buttermilk.
It is made of uncooked natural ingredients. Hence stays for a longer period. In olden days people depended on these pickles as a side dish during peak summer and rainy seasons when there was a vegetable scarcity.
Avakai also has different flavors - pesara avakaya, nuvvu avakaya, bellam avakaya, methi avakaya, neeti avakaya etc.
Avakaya intake in limited quantity is good for digestion and controls Vata but it is bad for Kapha and cough. (
click to know More about Vata and Kapha.)
Easy storage as it needs only normal room temperature.
