Raw Mango Rice / Maavinikaayi Chitranna

  
A rice dish would be a commonly prepared main dish when thinking in terms of a south Indian picnic. Until a few decades ago (or even now in many households), the spicy tamarind rice and the soothing yogurt rice combo would be blindly packed for lunches during any outdoor activities. The dishes would be prepared and relished without any second thought. The spicy tamarind based paste used for the tamarind rice can be prepared ahead and all that needs to be done on the picnic day is to mix it with cooked rice. It doesn't spoil at least for a couple of days even during the high summer temperatures, even when not refrigerated. While the yogurt rice is cooling and soothing, during the hot, sultry days.

And coming from that kind of background, I could not stop myself today from posting a rice dish as a part of this week's BM theme of 'picnic dishes'.  Besides, I thought of celebrating the sudden summer temperatures we are encountering this week after the 40s (around 4 deg C) we were freezing in last week. And what is a better way to celebrate the warm weather than a 'mango' that is almost synonymous to Indian summers? And the combo of rice and raw mango lead to this dish which is simpler than a pulihora preparation but nonetheless delicious in it's own way. This is prepared along the lines of 'kaayi saasive anna' from Karnataka and uses the extra step of grinding some ingredients and sauteing the paste.

Click on the recipe names below if interested to access the recipes of the rice dishes mentioned in the post.
Green Mango - Coconut rice
Tamarind rice / Pulihora
Yogurt rice / Daddhojanam
Kaayi Saasive Anna / Coconut - Mustard Rice
Green Mango Rice / Maamidikaaya Pulihora
Ingredients to grind:
1 cup firmly packed, peeled and grated raw mango
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
3 red chillies + 1 green chillie
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. jaggery powder

Other Ingredients:
3 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. peanuts
1 tsp. split chickpeas / chana dal
1 tsp. black gram / urad dal
1 tsp. mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
2 pinches of asafoetida powder
4 cups cooked rice
Salt to taste

Method:
* Spread the rice on a wide plate and allow it cool. Once cool, break any rice lumps if present.
* Keep a handful of grated mango aside and grind everything under 'ingredients to grind' to a slightly coarse paste, adding a little water.
* Heat oil in a saute pan and add peanuts, split chickpeas, black gram and mustard seeds. When the peanuts turn golden brown, add curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafoetida powder. Saute for about 10 seconds and add the ground paste. Saute the paste on medium flame, constantly stirring until the raw smell leaves, about 4 to 5 minutes. Next add the remaining mango gratings and salt and cook for a minute.
* Now the rice from the first step can be added to the pan and mixed or the cooked raw mango stuff from the above step can be added to the rice plate. Mix well so that the rice grains are coated well with the paste. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
* Serve warm with lentil wafers or potato chips.

Notes:
1. Use south Indian style rice for this preparation, where the cooked rice grains could be seen individually. I used sona masuri rice and pressure cooked it with a rice and water ratio of 1:2. 
2. Let the rice cool before adding it to the pan since the hot rice will turn mushy when stirred.
3. If the raw mango is not sour enough to your taste, lime or lemon juice can be added to the dish at the final stage as needed. Or a tiny ball of tamarind can be added while grinding the paste.
 
This goes to Blogging marathon #76, under the theme 'Picnic Recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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