Maavathal kulambu (sun dried mangoes curry)

Dear friends

This dish has been my all time favourite.. its super tangy with lots of tamarind and sun dried mango.. but you can adjust it according to your taste..
Usually the raw mangoes are cut into pieces with lots of salt and are left in a container for few days
then they are dried in the sun for a couple of days until they become really dry..usually my grand mom makes these , but the poor mangoes gets eaten up by me and cousins before it reaches grand mom...the lucky survivors are used by her in the curries..
these mangoes were sent to me by my grand mom ( she managed to save them as we were not around :-) ....)
here is a picture of the sun dried mangoes



Ingredients

Sun dried mangoes - 6 to 7
shallots - 10
tamarind - size of lemon ( i make this dish very tangy so adjust the tamarind as per taste)
curry powder (kulambu milagai thool)- 2 tbspn ( substitute by chilli powder and coriander powder 1:2)
salt - as per taste ( be careful as the mangoes have lots of salt in it)
methi seeds- 1/4 tspn
cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
curry leaves - 1 stalk
garlic pods - 6
sesame oil - 2 tbspn

Method

• soak the tamarind and the mangoes separately in hot water
• heat sesame oil in a deep bottomed pan and add the methi seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to splutter
• then add the curry leaves and then add the crushed garlic pods, you can sense the aroma at his stage
  
• add the shallots which are chopped lengthwise and saute till turns golden brown
• at this stage add the curry powder and saute for a min or two
  
• gently squeeze the tamarind and add only the tamarind water
  
• then add the sun dried mangoes and wait for a while then check for salt
• simmer it till the gravy turns semi thick
• when done remove it and enjoy with rice and a vegetable kootu
  

Sending these to Mango Mela hosted by srivalli of cooking 4 all seasons