Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Kadumanga Achar | Kerala Manga Achar is a vegan, vegetarian Kerala, South Indian condiment, side dish made with simple everyday ingredients in about 12 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 2 minutes
  • Total time: 12 minutes
  • Yield: 1 · 1 bowl
  • Category: Condiment, Side Dish
  • Cuisine: Kerala, South Indian

Ingredients

  • 300 gram mangoes
  • 3 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (or red chili powder)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or add as per taste)
  • 4 tablespoons sesame oil (about ¼ cup, add more if required, can use sunflower oil or mustard oil too)
  • 2 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • ½ teaspoon asafoetida
  • 8 to 10 curry leaves

Method

Preparing the pickle

  1. Rinse the mangoes and dry them with a clean kitchen towel. There should be no trace of moisture on them. Peel their skin. To peel is optional.
  2. Chop them into small bite-sized pieces or cubes. Chopping is a bit tough, so use a good knife and be careful of your hands.
  3. The chopped mango cubes should be about 1 to 1.25 cups.
  4. Place them in a heat proof mixing bowl or wide dish.
  5. Sprinkle turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt on the mango cubes.
  6. Mix everything nicely with a spoon.
  7. The masala should nicely coat the mango cubes.

Tempering the pickle

  1. Heat sesame oil in a small vessel or tadka pan or small frying pan. Keep heat to a low.
  2. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida.
  3. Once the mustard seeds start crackling, add the curry leaves.
  4. Fry for 1 to 2 seconds and then turn off the heat.
  5. Pour this hot tempering over the masala coated raw mango cubes.
  6. Mix everything with a spoon.
  7. Allow to cool and store the pickle in clean, sterilized glass bottles.
  8. The Manga Achar is ready. Serve as a side dish in Sadya meals or any of your favorite meals.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.