A favourite pickle spice powder mix used to make a zero oil Udupi styled mango pickle, Appe Midi Uppinakayi a speciality in Southern India using few weeks old baby mangoes which goes by different names, the fragrant “Appe Midi” that was part of the Karnataka Cuisine series in the month of March.
I have had this Karnataka styled pickle particularly the Udupi styled Appe Midi Uppinakayi during my college hostel days, lovingly made and sent across by a dear friend Suma Rao’s doting mother, Malini G.Nayak.
As I researched a bit about this pickle I came across variations in the ingredients used in the Udupi styled whole mango pickle spice mix, in Malini Aunty’s version of the spice powder she has used fenugreek seeds which was not mentioned in the recipes that I had come across. The other whole spices are mustard seeds and byadgi chillies(speciality of Byadgi, Haveri district in Karnataka, which was strongly recommended)
Also the actual spice mix is a paste version which is made by grinding sundried and lightly roasted whole spices with boiled and cooled salt water derived by curing the whole raw mangoes with layers of rock salt for certain days.
There’s a particular variety of baby mango named “appe midi” a specialty in Sagar, Sirsi, Siddapur, Thirthahally regions of Karnataka that is available during March and April. Known for its flavour, this tiny yet fragrant variety of mango is used only for pickling.
Below is the recipe for Malini Aunty’s Udupi Styled Appe Midi Uppinakayi Spice powder mix.
I have used the spice mix to make regular mango/maavina uppinakayi due to the unavailability of the appe midi variety in my current location.
Udupi Styled Maavina Midi Uppinakayi Spice Mix
Ingredients (For 1kg whole baby mangoes)
130g Byadgi Chillies or any mildly spicy dry red Chilli pepper
250g whole Black Mustard seeds
15-20 whole fenugreek seeds
1 Tbsp turmeric powder (I have used homeground turmeric powder)
Pre boiled and cooled brine/salt water(the mangoes are cured with rock salt, a layer of mango then a layer of salt, until the last layer of mangoes are completely covered with a layer of rock salt, this is stored for 10-15 days in an air tight sterilized glass jar or bharni, with occasional mixing using a clean dry spoon until the mangoes shrink. This brine is collected and used to make the spice mix paste. No extra salt is added separately).
Method
1.In a broad pan lightly roast the whole spices one by one separately and keep aside in a bowl. The chillies should not be over roasted else it will change the flavor of the pickle.
2. In a grinder grind the roasted spices along with the turmeric powder by adding the brine little at a time, until it is a thick paste consistency.
Udupi Styled Maavina Midi Uppinakayi spice mix is ready for the pickling process now.
Pushpita's Chakhum 