Grandma’s home is always a fun place to be. No restrictions, no rules, lots of pampering, and mischief with a side of delicious food that tastes better than your usual meal. Ever thought why? Duh, grandma! After all, she’s your mama’s mama. Grandmas are one of the best cooks you come across globally. It does not matter what part of the world you are in, if the dish was cooked by a grandma it ought to be satisfying, period.

We belong to a country with a colossal variety of people. These masses have quirks of their own and of the exceedingly rare ideas we all come together as one with food. It makes ties for life; humans have yielded relationships out of food. Of all the types of food, it is agreeable that the one common factor to complement your food is – ‘pickle’.

Pickle is adorned in the cuisines of all communities. Equally relished by young and old, this little accompaniment has won hearts worldwide. Pickle comes in a variety of tastes, types, and flavours, you name it and it is right there. Sweet, savoury, spicy, sour, tangy, and lip-smacking are the many qualities of this small addition to your plate. The history of the origin of pickles has always been unknown but we do find traces in the Mesopotamian civilization. The process of curing and salting foods in brine was carried out to preserve it for long journeys.

Speaking of journeys, I remember my grandma always carried a small box of pickles with her luggage, “pickle makes everything better” is what she said and still does. Grandma is the go-to person for all of us to get the best kind of pickle. She learned the art of preparing one as a young teenager, and as I mentioned earlier, grandma’s food is the best.

As a young child, I was curious to know the preparation of pickles. Grandma kept me away from it, she did not want her efforts to go down the drain. Preparing any kind of pickle is a tedious task, lots of physical strength is to be used, one must be diligent, and no procrastination is the recipe for a delectable outcome.

I wanted that delectable outcome, 22-year-old me has been acquaintances with the kitchen since age 9. The lockdown got us all experimenting in the kitchen, and I decided to do something outside the kitchen. My grandma’s specialty is “chundo”, pronounced as ‘chu-n-doe’ also known as “Chunda” which is a sweet raw mango pickle. The summer of 2020 gave me an opportunity I was longing for. I was lucky enough to have my hands on the raw mango that paved its way to the market despite the situation, and I did not break any laws reaching out to the raw mango.

The making of my grandma’s chundo entails few ingredients namely raw rajapuri mango, salt, turmeric powder, granulated sugar, and dried red chilly powder. For preparing the same a large hollow steel vessel, a large spatula, a muslin cloth, and a sturdy string suffice. Seems quite easy for a pickle doesn’t it? I thought so too! It started by grating 1 kg of raw rajapuri mangoes into julienne, added salt to taste and 2 tbsp of turmeric powder to prevent it from turning dark, put a lid, and marinated it for 9 hours. I then added 1.5 kgs of small granular sugar to the marinated raw mango juliennes, mixed it well, covered it with a muslin cloth and tied the edges of the cloth to the edges of the vessel with the string and marinated it for 6 – 8 hours overnight.

The next morning, I untied the string, put the cloth aside, and with the help of a large spatula mixed it well, then covered the vessel with the cloth, tied it again, and placed it under direct sunlight (on the terrace) for 8 hours so as to cook it just like they did it back in the good old days. This process is vital because the raw mango shall only cook when exposed to solar energy, hence this procedure must be carried out by 9 am every day and then (around 4 pm) the vessel must be brought back home. I did this for a week, as and when while mixing I realized that the granulated sugar was now a lovely golden syrup, the raw rajapuri mango juliennes were tenderer and softer. This was a sign, my pickle was almost ready, I added 5 tbsp of dried red chilly powder and stirred it well. My chundo was ready!! I transferred it into a large transparent glass jar, sealed it tight and stored it in a cool and dry place; this quantity was sufficient enough to last till the next mango season.

I was content with my little experiment and upon informing my grandma she was very pleased. Her chundo, as we call it, has a sauce like consistency and eventually turns into a jam like texture when you gorge on the syrup more than the mango. Chunda is a great substitute when you are looking for a sauce that’s sweet yet sharp in taste.

I believe that this story will prompt you all to try something new!