Aamba Khatta

Today as I write about amba khatta, it takes me down memory lane when I fell in love with my now husband and then boy friend. We were in engineering college together when I got to know Partha, in 2006, some 15 years ago. In one of the long conversations(like most people newly fallen in love often have), he mentioned he loved to eat – bhaata, dali, aloo bharta and tomato khatta. I mentally made a note that I would learn tomato khatta this time I went home from Namita aunty (Mini bou, as we lovingly called her. She cooked delightful Bengali feasts for us at home in Jamshedpur). And, tomato khatta was one of the easiest and best things I learnt from Namita aunty.

We grew up eating some kind of khatta everyday…..we called it chatni because of Bou’s Bengali roots. In fact, we are almost half Bengali, having grown up in Jamshedpur . I joke with my now husband that had I not married him, I would have married a Bengali. Coming back to chatni, while the Bengali version is a rich sweet taste, more dense in flavour and consistency, the Odiya version has a sweet and sour element to it, more tangy, slightly more liquid and infused with the flavour of curry leaves flavour (in the chunka).

Coming back to khatta, Bou made khatta because she said that after sitting for long hours in school, the taste of khatta tingled our taste buds and we ate a little more bhaata. After becoming a mother, I now understand the satisfaction of knowing that your child has eaten well. On most days, we had tomato khatta. On special days, Bou added dates to it. On other days, Khudi made aambda khatta from an ambada tree we had in our garden. Little did I know, ambada is considered a superfood due to its rich concentration of vitamins. In weddings, there would be the special anaras chutney studded with cashews and raisins (the pineapple khatta). I, with my sweet tooth, relished them all.

After moving to Odisha for engineering studies, I realised the place khatta had in the Odiya thali. It is an irreplaceable component of most BPL (Bina piyaz lahsun) meals, temple food and bhoji bhaata. That is when I got introduced to the myriad of flavours of amba khatta, ou khatta, bhendi khatta and ambula rai. Oh my mouth waters, at the thought of it.

So here is the easy peasy recipe. Ingredients are simple but the taste can uplift a simple bhaata, dalma to a soul satisfying level. If you are sick and want something to tingle your taste buds but don’t have time to cook something elaborate – bhaata, dalma and amba khatta is the go-to meal.

1 raw mango diced (with skin on). I prefer to the seed as it increases the sourness and you need more sugar but some people love to lick the seed in the khatta

1/2 tsp haldi powder

Sugar or jaggery (you have to have a free hand for this one, can’t count your calories here)

Salt (to your taste)

For the tempering (chunka) :

Some curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

Dry red chilli – one or two as you prefer

1 tsp Mustard oil or refined oil

Process :

In mustard oil, add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Then go in the dry red chilli and curry leaves. Once the flavours infuse in the oil, add the diced raw mango. Add the salt and turmeric and stir fry the mango for a minute. Add as much water as you would like the consistency. I prefer the watery version, so one and half cup for one raw mango works.

Now, in case, you are short on time, cook this in the pressure cooker. One whistle would do the magic. Else, you can slowly simmer this in a saucepan. Add in the sugar/jaggery in the end as per your taste and enjoy this simple and sublime flavour.

Note – If you are using the pressure cooker, you might need little more sugar than in a saucepan. Also, you could grate the raw mango and make a slightly more thicker version of the khatta. This can be kept and stored in the fridge for a week, to pep up any simple meal.