Friday, July 13, 2007

Ambada in Brine

What is this ? A fruit? A vegetable? Ambada!!!



Is this snow in the box? Sea salt to make the brine.

Updated 16th July 07

Shilpa of Aayi's recipes and Mamta are the winners of this guess. It is Ambada in Marathi, ambado in Konkani and amtekayi in kannada. Thank you all for your responses. Hope you enjoyed it!

Ambada is a fruit with a hard skin and fibrous inside. It is very sour when raw and cannot be bit into dirrectly. If one does try the sensitivity of the teeth is lost temporarily. This is however a good fruit to pickle just like raw mango. The most favorite way to preserve it though is with plain sea salt. After a week you get shrivelled ambada in brine. This preserved ambada is then used as an accompaniment with meals like a pickle.

In its raw form it is used as a souring agent like Shilpa mentioned in dals and curries. It livens up even the most mundane curries and takes them to new heights. If eaten too much it induces sleep.

When I saw these Ambada in a heap in the market I had to buy them. It reminded me of Thal where they are just dumped into huge earthen pots called Ranjun (remember Alladin and the forty theives) filled with salt and allowed to hibernate there all the year long till they are removed for eating. In Thal every household has a story of the kids trying to steal the Ambada in brine and in the attempt falling into the Ranjun.

Ingredients

1/4 kg ambada
1/2 cup salt
Just mix together and fill into a jar. Through the week just shake up a bit to make sure the fruit does not spoil. Once the brine is formed it will preserve well. When the fruit is shrivelled and discolored to a pale green it is ready to eat.

Serve as a pickle Or use to make your curries tangy like Mamta mentioned. The taste is its own and not to compare with mango. It will hook up all ladies especially the ones with a good news ;). Right now I am surrounded by three such ladies who keep asking for tangy things!

40 comments:

  1. We call it ambada in mangalore and it is salt in the box. We use ambada in curries for its tangy taste and we also make pickle out of it.

    Mamta

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  2. Hey anajli, this is "maavadu" (baby mangoes) and your are going to make "vadumaangai oorukai). Am i right?

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  3. Are those the tasty little fruits called "boar" in Marathi and "ber" in Hindi? These look like the raw versions. Are you salting them in the box, in the nice coarse sea salt that looks like snow?

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  4. No, it's raw mango, before it becomes big!

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  5. are these small raw mangoes used to make pickles?

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  6. Hi,

    I think you're trying to make Maavadu.

    Sri Valli

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  7. We call it ambado in Konkani and amtekayi in kannada. used as a soaring agent in many dishes. We make pickle also with it. It has a seed in it and sour in taste :)

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  8. Is this a small'kairi' used whole in pickles? snow is salt..'khade meeth'???
    (oh boy!! I suck @ guesses!!)

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  9. This is a fruit...i dont remember the name, but it is bitter sweet in taste.....and i think thats salt

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  10. vadu manga or small manga pickle,it looks like sea salt or rock salt marinated in manga,so that after some 10 day it soft juicy,succulent.this salt acts as preservative.Any Prize????
    Gita

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  11. Hi Anjali,,,

    It is Mango and the second one is mangoes with salt in mixie right??

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  12. its Maa vadu.

    You are making Maa vadu pickle.It is not snow it is salt.

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  13. Though I've visited your blog a lot of times, (and you have a wonderful blog... I enjoy reading it)this is my first time commenting on it. ANd this is the first comment.
    I think they are raw mangoes!! and in the next picture they are with salt..
    -Deepika
    http://deepisrecipes.blogspot.com/

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  14. Ambazhanga being pickled? I think it is called hog plum in english, not sure.

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  15. u r making mango pickle.

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  16. small kairi (raw mango) and the snow is the salt

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  17. Small raw mango (kairi)with salt (the snow) :)

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  18. Hi!
    Looks like a veg..but couldn't guess...

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  19. bokar? for pickling? in salt? :-D

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  20. Mangoes being pickled??

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  21. Hi Anjali,

    I think those are baby mangoes. "Maa vadu" in Tamil.

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  22. Hi Anjali, I don't about that fruit/vegetable. Never seen it before. In the box, hhhmmm.....that is salt.....I think.....waiting for the result...

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  23. Little green mangoes with salt.We call it Gunda in M'lore!:)
    Hope I am right!

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  24. Thats mavadu. Or unripe salted mangoes

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  25. No,it is kairi pickle

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  26. Vadu maangai as we call them in tamil? Dont know any other names for it :(

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  27. Raw mangoes..right?

    You're probably making a pickle ;)

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  28. Baby green mangoes and kosher salt? :)

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  29. It's ambadi.. I love these.. and is it being pickled in salt?

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  30. Hey Anjali

    I guess its a kind of vegetable... which is used to make pickles... i have eaten it in the pickle form.. but don't remember the name and the second picture is the same with salt getting prepared to be pickled...

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  31. Wow 32 commnets after a long time. Anon and Shilpa of Aayi's wins the guess!!! It is "Ambada" and I am pickling it in salt. I will update with pictures of the final product.

    Anita bhokar is another exotic fruit that is pickled but I haven't seen it here in blr.

    Thank you all for the responses. majority of you thought it was baby mangoes and I knew I had pulled off a good one :). Nupur thought it was ber atleast she thought differently. Sra I haven't seen such big karvanda. It was fun hope you enjoyed it too.

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  32. Unless I am mispronouncing In Hyderabad and I think in parts of Maharashtra they call Gongura as Ambada. I am glad I came across this blog. I can Imagine talking about Ambada with some one and each talking about different things!!

    Pervez

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  33. Anon


    In Maharashtra they do call Gongura as Ambada you are right. That is a leafy vegetable where as this one is a fruit. They are two different things :)

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  34. This is called ambazhanga in malayalam and grows plenty on trees near river or any water bodies. It can be made as a simple sauerkraut with just salt or as a mixture of salt and bird chillies (small chillies)...the latter tastes yum.

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  35. Hello sir/madam,

    Myself Renjith a native of Trivendrum, Kerala. Im settled with my family in Bangalore. I read your writings on the the website regarding the fruit - ambazhanga/amtekayi.

    Thank you. I have had this tree very long ago in my family house in 1980's. But, now it is no more. Im looking forward to get one plant or seed of the same and plant it so that my kids will atleast see it and dont forget this one. I will be very thankful if you can provide me some seeds or a plant of this fruit, for me to grow it. I can arrange it to be collected or can come over.

    Thank you
    Renjith
    09980504929
    renjithr_2000@yahoo.com

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  36. Renjith wish I could help but these were bought out and not home grown. It is really admirable to see how much you go out for your kids.

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  37. oh its amda, as we call it in bengali...love the amda pickle or chutney.

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