Ripe mangoes in a sweet, spicy side dish (Ambe Gojju)

When mangoes are in season there are 3 Konkani cuisine mango dishes you definitely can’t miss out on making. Ambe upakari (a delicious Konkani cuisine mango curry), ambe sasam (a Konkani style mango salad) & ambe gojju (a delicious mango side dish). These are Konkani cuisine favourites. All these ripe mango dishes are a good mixture of sweet, spice & sour. A myriad of tastes with bursts of flavour in your mouth. Well, if you love mangoes, you’ll definitely love these mango dishes.

The pic above is of a delish mango side dish called as ambe gojju in Konkani. A seasonal favourite. Ambo in Konkani means mango and gojju in Konkani refers to side dishes of veggies (cooked or raw), which are then smashed and seasoned.

Ambe gojju is hands down the simplest and the yummiest mango side dish you can make using minimal ingredients. It's spicy, sweet, tangy, all in one bite. It’s also quick & easy to make. Asafoetida/garlic used in this gojju adds a nice zing to the dish. I know of families who finish off their lunch, dinner using just 1 ripe mango during the mango season. This gojju is definitely a treat to mango lovers like them. I also know of families whose lunch/dinner is gulped down using just this phenomenal mango gojju.

A ladle full of this fabulous mango gojju is also served as a side dish for lunch & dinner. If you’re lucky & if there are few of you at home who relish eating whole mangoes, then you get served one whole pulpy mango along with a ladle full of this delish gojju. Apparently, very few actually eat rice with this gojju though. Actually mix rice with this gojju & relish it. This gojju is just devoured on by majority of us. Eat this gojju with your hands & don't worry if your hands get messy in the process. That's meant to be & that's how it's eaten. :) The pulpy whole mango in the gojju, is first eaten clean by biting into it. Then the cleaned out hard mango kernel is used as a spoon to eat rest of the thick, slurpy gojju. Or you can use your fingers to slurp-on the delicious gojju. :)

I sometimes sit down with a bowl of this delicious gojju and enjoy it with a spoon as my dessert. Love it so much! :) However to eat the whole ripe mango in the gojju, I have to dig in, use my fingers and get them dirty. Also, mind you if the ripe mangoes used are pulpy & hairy then there are chances that you'll have to brush & floss your teeth after your done enjoying this gojju. :) But trust me, it's all worth it.

Give this ripe mango gojju a try & I'm sure you'll go slurp.. slurp & will lick your bowl clean. :)

Watch it's making here

Mangoes used to prepare ambe gojju:

Taste of this gojju (ambe gojju) depends on the mangoes you use to make it. You can use sour, not-so-sweet, sour-sweet, sweet mangoes to make ambe gojju. In short, use any kind of ripe mango and adjust the amount of jaggery, green chillies you add accordingly. Ideally, use mangoes that have a lot of pulp in them to make the best ambe gojju. You'll then get a nice, thick pulpy delicious gravy. :)

If the mangoes used are sweet, then adjust the amount of jaggery you add according to how sweet you like your gojju to be. If the mangoes are sour, then you'll have to add lot more jaggery to the gojju to balance out the sourness. Usually, a good mix of sweet and sour mangoes are used, to get the balance right, to make this gojju sweet as well as slightly tangy.

Traditionally, mangoes used to prepare this mango gojju (ambe gojju) are the local varieties of mangoes. Mangoes called as "katt ambo" in Konkani. Mangoes that grow in the backyards are used to prepare ambe gojju. This variety of mango is perfect to make ambe gojju & are also known as upakari ambo in Konkani.

They're tiny in size. Very small to medium in size. Here's a picture of 'katt ambo/gont ambo/upakari ambo' next to alphonso mangoes for the size comparison.

Sorry, I don’t know the English name of this mango variety. This local variety of mango is smaller in size, is full of flavour, not very juicy, are sometimes sour, not-so-sweet & are too hairy on the inside. They are not the tasty mangoes we usually eat and enjoy. This makes me think that our ancestors invented this dish while finding a way to use up these sour, not-so-sweet mangoes that they couldn’t eat. Adding jaggery, green chillies, asafoetida to these not-so-good mangoes, takes them to a whole new level.

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangoes
3-4 green chillies
2-3 tablespoons of powdered jaggery
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
A pinch of crystal asafoetida melted in water or 2 garlic cloves

Serves: 2-3

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Preparation Method:

Wash ripe mangoes well, cook them using 2 cups of water, until they are soft and cooked through. You know they're cooked through by the change in colour of the peel. Mango peel colour changes throughout & the mangoes get soft.
Discard the water used to cook the mangoes and let the mangoes cool down completely.
Once the mangoes cool down, peel them, add whole mangoes with the pulp into one bowl and put together mango peels in another bowl. You'll be able to peel the mango easily using your fingers.
If there’s any mango pulp sticking to the mango peel, then add some water (about 1/2 cup of water) to the peels in the bowl, give the peels a nice squeeze and decant all the water containing mango pulp into the bowl containing whole mangoes. Discard the mango peels.
This gojju is medium thick in consistency, do not add excess water to the gojju. You can add only upto 3/4 cup of water in total to the gojju.
If you have discarded the mango peels right after peeling them and haven't added any water to the mangoes yet, then add in 1/2 cup of water to the whole mangoes in the bowl.
Smash well finely chopped green chillies and add them into the bowl containing the mangoes.
Also add in salt, powdered jaggery, crystal asafoetida melted in water (soak it in hot water for few minutes, so that it melts) and give them a good mix. We want the jaggery to dissolve completely. Once jaggery dissolves it further dilutes the gojju.
If you're using garlic instead of asafoetida then peel them, smash them well and add them to the gojju.
Give the mangoes with the pulp a good squeeze with your hands so that it takes up all the flavour and some of the pulp gets into the watery gojju to make it a little thick and pulpy. Do not squeeze them more, we also need some pulp sticking onto the mango kernel.
Add in coconut oil and mix well.
Serve as a side dish with a bowl of rice. Or enjoy it as a dessert.

Side Note:

1. You can also prepare this mango gojju without cooking the ripe mangoes. Wash, peel ripe mangoes using your fingers and without cooking them, prepare gojju as mentioned above. The gojju tastes good this way too.

2. The mangoes are cooked for a nice taste to the gojju and to store the gojju for 2 days. If the mangoes aren't cooked then the gojju needs to be emptied within a few hours of preparation.

3. Add in green chillies according to their spiciness and how spicy you like your gojju to be.

4. Add in jaggery depending on how sweet the mangoes are & how sweet you would like your gojju to be.

5. You can add smashed-raw garlic or crystal asafoetida to this gojju. Both ways, this mango gojju tastes great.

Liked this mango gojju? Then you'll definitely like these 2 Konkani cuisine favourites:

Pineapple, Mango In A Spicy, Sweet Coconut Gravy (Avnas Ambe Sasam)

Ripe mangoes in a sweet, spicy side dish (Ambe Gojju)

Ripe Mango Side Dish (Ambe Sukke)

Find more Konkani cuisine side dishes here.

Tags: Mangoes, gojju, side dish, Konkani food, Konkani Cuisine, Konkani recipe, Udupi cuisine, Mangalore food, bachelor recipe, ugadi