No avakaya? Blame it on changing climate

Hyderabad: If you don’t have jars of avakaya, the traditional mango pickle, settling in big jars at home, blame it on climate change.

The season to prepare the mango pickle avakaya ends with Mrugasira Karthe on June 8. This year it well may be impossible, or very expensive, to make avakaya as climate change has impacted the pickle mango crop.

Coming on top of that, the recent spell of rain has damaged the crop and appears to have put paid to any possibility that the mangoes would arrive in the market. Most of the farms and fields experienced a large number of mango drops.

Horticulture additional director K. Venu Gopal said that delayed, and insufficient, rains last year had affected the crop. “Due to the El Nino effect, both states experienced acute rain deficiency. This had an impact on the mango crop. Apart from this, there was a large difference between day and night temperatures from October to December which led to late flowering,” he said.

Besides, the flowering was of poor quality due to the early onset of summer. Most borewells dried up and the water shortage damaged of the trees further, he said.

He said that Ranga Reddy district, only one farmer succeeded in saving his crop. “Mr V. Raghava Reddy from Ibrahimpatnam cultivated 600 plants which are more than 16 years old. He took steps suggested by horticulture officials and got good results,” he said.

With poor arrivals, the price of pickle mangoes has tripled. The pickle mango is being sold at Rs 12 a piece in Rythu Bazaars against Rs 2 to Rs 4 last year. It costs between Rs 15 and Rs 18 in the retail markets.

Although few varieties of mangoes are available, the special Neelam has disappeared. Only the Jalal variety is being sold in Rythu Bazaars.

Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar estate officer K.R. Vijay Kumar said farmers used to come to the city to sell pickle mangoes earlier. “This time the arrivals have dropped and women from self help groups are selling pickle mangoes in Rythu Bazaars,” he said.

Mr S.V. Krishna, president of Rajarajeswari Colony residents welfare association near Kondapur, said that villagers from the outskirts used to visit colonies to sell mangoes on footpaths. “This time, there is no such situation. We did not even get good mangoes in villages in Ranga Reddy and Medak districts,” he said.

Avakaya lessons
If you are lucky to have found good pickle mangoes, or are willing to pay the extra buck, here is how to make the trademark pickle.

Avakaya
Ingredients
Fresh and unripe mango pieces: 4 to 6 cups
Oil: 2 cups
Mustard powder: 1 cup
Red chilli powder:1 cup
Salt: ¾ cup
Methi powder: .5 tsp

Method:
Slice each mango into eight pieces, six if it is small. Wipe the insides the seed with a clean and dry cloth. Make sure that all the bowls and spoons are dry. Warm oil and set aside to cool. Add mango cubes in a dry bowl along with red chilli powder, mustard powder and salt, mix with oil. Let it settle for 24 hours, mix with a dry spoon. Add salt and oil to taste. Stored in clean and dry jar.

Masala Avakaya:
Half a cup of garlic and ginger paste provides an additional zing. Add it while adding red chilli and salt.

Bellam Avakaya:
To make a sweet and sour version, add a cup of powered jaggery.

Ingredients (250 ml cup)
Mango pieces: 4 cups
Methi seeds: ½ tbsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp
Powdered jaggery: 1 cup of
Salt: ½ cup

Method:
Just the same as making Avakaya.  method for selecting slices of mangoes and warming the oil. Jaggery should be taken into powder form. Mix the mango pieces with methi seeds, red chilli powder, salt and jaggery. Warm and cool oil. Mix it with the pickle along with powered jaggery. Let it rest for 24 hours, mix the pickle with a clean and dry spoon. Bellam Ava goes well with chapati or roti, and is well-liked by kids.

Chekku Pacchadi
Ingredients (250 ml cup)
Cubed mango pieces: 1¼ cup
Mustard powder: 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder: 3 tbsp
Salt: 1½ tsp or as per taste
Oil (Sesame oil preferred, groundnut oil will do just fine): 3 tbsp

Method:The same as making avakaya. But there is a vital difference: The cubes do not contain the seed of the mango. Slice the mango into 18 to 24 pieces.

Jail mango farms bereft of fruit
Organic mango farms in Cherlapally and Anantapur open-air jails have seen few pickle mangoes for the first time in their history.

Prisoners from these two open-air jails would sell pickle mangoes during season on behalf of the prisons department and earn money by cutting the mangoes. These mangoes were cultivated with organic farming techniques and were very popular among people living in the surrounding localities.

Superintendents for these prisons used to fix the price of each mango at Rs 3 to Rs 5 based on their size and quality and prisoners would be deputed for cutting the mangoes into pieces and collect Rs 50 per 100 mangoes. But this time no mango tree flowered in either of the jails.

An official from Cherlapally prison said this has happened for the first time in the history of Cherlapally and Anantapur open air jails. “Twenty per cent of the crop would be kept for prisons department officials and the rest would be sold. This time none of the trees have flowered. Although, the two jails have good soil, adequate care taking and plenty of water, there was no crop,” the official said.