<figure><figcaption>Serious Eats / Kanika and Jatin Sharma</figcaption></figure>

Throughout India, pickles are enjoyed as a condiment with many meals, eaten with dal, rice dishes, parathas, or even many breakfast dishes such as pohé. Mango pickle is one of the most popular pickles throughout the country. There are many regional variations of it, each with its own unique blend of spices and flavors. But at its core it’s most often made from green, underripe mangoes, spices, and mustard seed– and spice-infused oil. 

My mother loved to make pickles this way, often with whatever fruits or vegetables she had on hand. They were a welcome burst of flavor to most of our meals, and my favorite was her mango pickle. On evenings when we had guests over to our home for dinner, the first thing she would do that morning was start macerating the pickles in plenty of salt and a spiced-infused oil, so they would be ready to serve later that night. She’d pickle whatever was on hand: carrots, cauliflower, peeled ginger, or my absolute favorite, mango. 

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How Indian Pickles are Prepared 

In Western cooking, the term “pickling” most often refers to the food preservation method involving submerging food in an acidic solution, like vinegar, or via lactic acid fermentation. But most Indian pickles go through neither of these processes, and instead are preserved, or “pickled” by coating the mixture in salt and sugar and submerging in spiced oil.

Most homemade Indian pickles involve mixing vegetables or fruits (sometimes blanched or cooked first, but not always) with plenty of spices, salt, and oil. The pickle is then either packed into large ceramic pots known as bharani (or barni) and put in the sun for several days to ferment—the layer of oil on top inhibits mold growth while excluding oxygen—or it's allowed to macerate for a short period at room temperature and then transferred to the refrigerator for storage, which skips the fermentation in favor of speed and ease.. This recipe is the latter type—a quick refrigerated pickle that comes together in little time but is still bursting with flavor.

How to Make Quick Mango Pickle

This quick pickle is simple to make, but there are a few key things to get right so you end up with robust, zesty flavor and a crunchy, salad-like texture.

Selecting and Preparing the Mango

First, make sure to use green, unripe raw firm mangos that are not fully mature, not to be confused with underripe mangoes that will ripen soon (and have a thicker skin on them). As they sit in the salt and oil mixture, the mango pieces will soften slightly, but they'll still retain some of their firm texture. If you were to start with ripe mangos, the mango pieces would fall apart and become mushy. 

I personally prefer to leave the skin on my mangos when I make this pickle. I enjoy its chewy texture, and I find that it helps the mango flesh retain its shape even when cut into smaller sizes. That said, many people will prefer the pickle without the skin (and some may even have a mild allergic reaction to it), so the recipe below instructs you to peel the mango; note that when peeled, the mango should be cut into slightly larger pieces (the 1/2-inch size in my recipe below is a good ballpark) so they can better retain their shape even without the skin..

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Tips on Preparing the Spiced Oil

One of the key components of the mango pickle is a spice-infused oil that adds flavor and a glistening, slippery texture. When I prepare the oil, I like to use an Indian seasoning wok, which is a small vessel specifically for this type of purpose. Many of you won't have this exact piece of cookware, but any small, flat-bottomed saucepan or carbon-steel skillet will work well.

The order of which spices are added to the hot oil also matters. The brown mustard seeds are added first. They will (and should) pop while cooking, so make sure to have a lid or cooking screen handy to contain the splatter.

The asafoetida, ground turmeric, Kashmiri red chile powder, and fenugreek seeds are then bloomed in the hot oil to round out its flavor. Asafoetida is a dried and ground gum resin that drips off the roots of an herb called ferula asafoetida, a central Asian plant in the celery family, and I love its assertive, oniony-garlic smell and flavor. (In the Indian state of Maharashtra, where my family is from, the combination of asafoetida, mustard, and turmeric is often considered the “holy trinity” of seasonings.) 

The oil mixture is then tossed with the mango and left at room temperature to macerate—just make sure the oil has cooled before adding it to the mango, or it risks heating the fruit and turning it mushy. During the maceration time, the flavors will blend together, and the salt and sugar will soften the mango.

This recipe works well with other fruits and vegetables as well. I like to prepare it with carrots, cauliflower, or apples, or under-ripe pears. I’ve included measurements for these variations below the main recipe.

In a large metal bowl, toss diced mangoes with salt and jaggery or sugar until combined; set aside.

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In a seasoning wok (see notes) or small heavy-bottomed saucepan or small carbon-steel skillet, heat oil until smoking, about 3 minutes. Test oil temperature with one mustard seed. If it pops right away, your oil is ready; if not, return heat to medium-high for 1 additional minute and retest. When ready turn off heat and immediately add mustard seeds to the saucepan and cover with the lid/screen. The mustard seeds will pop, making a sound like popping corn, about 30 seconds.

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Once the popping stops, uncover the pan and add the turmeric, red chile powder, asafetida, and fenugreek to the pan, stir gently to mix. Let the oil cool completely, about 30 minutes.

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Scrape the cooled oil onto the mango and mix well. Taste the mango and add more salt or sugar if desired.

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Let mango stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally until well macerated, at least 3 and up to 4 hours. Then transfer to an airtight glass container or jar and refrigerate until ready to use. Before serving, stir to combine and serve in a small bowl as a condiment.

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