Keeping busy during the lockdown, Bangalore, India

Delicious Chundo, a gujarati sweet mango pickle When we were kids, Mum would get into a pickle making frenzy, as soon as the mangos began to fall in Hayes Road. At that time we had a massive tree in the back which fruited copiously and she could not bear to waste them. She did not make the hot and chillie kind, but she made a sweet variety with raisins and sliced garlic dunked in sugar and spices. She made bottles of the stuff and sent one bottle each to her married kids who lived in India. Because of that I never learned to make it on my own. There was always Mum’s pickle, or date roll or Christmas cake or sorpotel whatever she made, so that made me lazy and I never even tried making anything.

Look at the funny side of the lock down Then suddenly like always, something happens to shake me up. Ofcourse Mum cannot make any more pickle, as she has been a vegetable for a few years, my poor sweet Mum. And we are back living in Hayes Road, with falling mangoes. Plus, I am feeling sorry for myself being stuck here in India, even though it’s spring in the UK and US ‘cause of COVID - 19. Spring is when I fly like a bird, to my sons homes, to enjoy their gardens and families, especially the babies. Gone for three months or more, but now I am shackled by COVID.

Two tiny mangos grated makes a lot But to go back to the beginning of my story-- to the reason for the pickle making -- Last year, at the same time, I requested the crazy maali we have, to hose down the mango tree up front because it was full of termites. This is a problem the trees have faced from my grandfather's time and there is a simple remedy. Hose down or pressure wash the tree and paint the base of the tree with chunna ( lime) to deter the termites from starting out again. Learned from Grandpa and Dad. A simple, inexpensive and effective cure, but I was not here to get it done and the lazy guy did not do it. Finally on my return from the US,I was shocked to see the termites had reached the top branches, literally eating the tree alive. It looked sad and ill. So, one Sunday my husband and myself took a tall ladder and along with the security guard sprayed the tree clean. Then with the bags of chunna which he had painstakingly bought, we painted the tree and all the other trees in the compound.

Sprayed and clean with a jet stream of water Almost immediately the tree threw out a canopy of pink, brand new leaves which have now turned an arresting green. As if the tree is saying Thank You, says the security guard with a broad smile, as he had helped us through the labour of love. Now almost everyday a small mango will fall, which is inedible as it’s too tiny, but this jogged my memory of Mum and her pickles. I hate doing the grating of the mango, which I leave to my help Pushpa and in minutes once she grates up the two little mangoes, I make the chunda. It is a delicious sweet /sour gooey pickle made in Gujarat, where my maternal grandparents came from. I have found the recipe on the net and like adding my own spices, reduce the sugar content, and use Stevia as the sweetener instead. My secret ingredient is black salt to give it that special tang.

It's uncooked in Gujurat. Just left in the summer heat on the terrace. I remember as kids the pickle woman or man came around with his basket, when we were on holiday in Baroda. I would go running into the house to call Mamma ( as I called Gmum) while the seller would lower the basket filled with pots of different pickles in the verandah. Wiping his hot sweaty face with the rolled towel he placed the basket on, on his head, he would smile encouragingly at us. Then my plump and affable grandmother would tell me, to choose whichever pickle my heart desired. I chose the Chundo and my mother the sweet and hot mango chunks and we bought spoons of the delicious stuff for our table. It went wonderfully well with the rice, dal and veggies that we ate along with a beef side dish. And that’s the Chundo I make now.

A beautiful parrot green crown of leaves on the tree after treatment The lockdown has reduced my snacks to enjoy with my cup of tea, and that’s driving me crazy as I am a chronic snacker. So I searched the pantry and came up trumps, with a Sugar free muffin carton. It had two packets in it, one for the base and one for the cinnamon sugar sprinkled in between. My DIL loves to shop and I don’t, so it was on one of these expeditions that the Pilsbury sugar free cake mixes were bought and put into my suitcase. In the US Alaina and me, have a wonderful time making the cakes. But here, I find it a chore,and that’s how I got lucky finding them unused in the pantry

Pilsbury mixes are the best I just miss my Mum through it all, as she would have enjoyed making these easy, ready made cakes which need no real skill at all, just a good oven and cake mixie. Like me she was never bored at home, there was always something to do and so in this lockdown, I am glad to be back cooking once more, besides finishing the manuscripts of my two new books on my editing table.