December 04, 2010

Torshi Anbeh - Pickled Mango


This is a quick, simple and sumptuous torshi (pickle) that is served as a side for any rice and stew dishes. Serving a variety of pickles and relishes with main courses is a major part of the Iranian cuisine. In our home torshi making was an annual summer ritual for my mother and our hayat (yard) would be filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, tomatoes, limes and unripe sour grapes to juice. Years later, when I met my husband, I was happy to find out that in their home his father was in charge of making torshi and that he had designated a special place in the basement of his home to place the large clay jars used to preserve the pickles!  I knew then that I'd met someone who also has the love of torshi in his genes! There's nothing like homemade pickles where you use fresh ingredients and favorite spices and adjust the seasonings to your liking. There are the common and popular pickles such as the eggplant pickle, mixed vegetable pickle and the garlic pickle, not to mention my favorite fruit pickle that I have written about in the past.




Today's recipe is ترشی انبه  torshi anbeh (pickled mango) which I've grown to adore mostly in recent years. Mangoes make great pickles. They are soft, smooth, juicy and quite tasty. I like to maintain the color and the texture of mango while it gently simmers in tamarind infused sauce, spices, dried red pepper and garlic cloves and vinegar, until all the complex and different flavors come together nicely. I didn't chop the garlic and the peppers into pieces and chose to leave them whole. We don't want them to overpower the taste and also this way they would be easier to take out when serving.



Torshi Anbeh - Pickled Mango

Ingredients:

4 firm ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
4-5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
Juice of a lemon/lime
3 tablespoons tamarind sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon golpar (angelica), crushed
1/2 teaspoon siah daneh (nigella seeds)
1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1-2 dried red peppers
2 cups white vinegar
Salt to taste

Method:
  1. Place the mangoes in a bowl, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and set aside.
  2. In a medium-sized heavy pot bring vinegar to a gentle boil over medium-low heat. Add the tomato paste and the tamarind sauce. Stir well.
  3. Add the garlic, red pepper and the spices, simmer for 5 minutes over low heat for the flavors to come together. 
  4. Add the mangoes to the pot, add salt and cook for 5-7 minutes over medium-low heat, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, turn off the heat.
  5. When cool, place the torshi in a washed and clean glass jar. Make sure all ingredients are covered by vinegar. Add more vinegar if needed. Refrigerate or keep in a cool and dry place. This pickle is ready to serve the next day.
 This is a delicious side to serve with your favorite food.

Enjoy!

16 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I like making pickles and I'm grateful to you for sharing an intriguing recipe.

    Can you tell me more about the 1/2 teaspoon of "black seeds" that the recipe calls for? What kind of seeds are they?

    I've learned quite a bit about Persian cooking from your lovely blog. Thank you.

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  2. mm this looks great! Is torshi an arabic word? Or even turkish? I'm Armenian an we use the word torshi but I never knew what it's origins were.

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  3. Yummy! I love pickle, although I never tasted this version, I am sure I am going to like it.

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  4. Hi Bruce, thank you and I'm glad you like the recipe. I have included a link in the recipe about black seeds/nigella seeds that hopefully will help you.

    Kathleen, torshi is a Farsi/Persian word that comes from the root word of "torsh" meaning sour. Thanks for visiting!

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  5. Hello Azita,
    Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I remember years ago once I was in Iran yet, when "Mahram" brand started to produce this kind f torshi and I was having a jar each week! Interesting that I was telling to a friend how delicious taste of this torshi has just a couple of weeks ago! and vola! I can make it now!
    Just a question:
    should I boil the red peppers with other dried stuff or to put it in the jar directly?
    Merci again,
    Have a wonderful day,
    Aida

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  6. Hello Aida, yes, add the red peppers with the other dry ingredients and boil them together. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a great day!

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  7. Very interesting, Azita! My Aunt gave me the same recipe with one difference: we used semi-ripe mangoes. It ripened over time, and maintained its shape.

    I have never tried it with ripe mangoes...i can taste the sheeren-o-torsh already..mmm!

    Merci :D
    Azarakhsh

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  8. Azarakhsh jan, I'm going to give unripe mangoes a try very soon! Thank you so much!
    Mamnoonam :)

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  9. Azita, great idea of picking mango...looks so colorful and tasty...got my mouth watering :-)

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  10. Salam
    You have a really great blog. I was looking for some persian recepies in English and i found yours. They are amazing together with your great photoes.
    I wanted to use them for my presentation about Iranian cooking and I wanted to ask for permission.
    Thanks alot
    Zahra

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  11. Salam Zahra,

    I'm so glad you found my blog! Thank you for asking for my permission. Yes, you may use my recipes and photos in your presentation. Please give credit with a link back here and the name of the blog. Thank you.

    Best wishes,
    Azita

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  12. These mango pickles look delicious. I am used to the Indian mango pickles and would love to try these.(the spices used are different, I guess!)

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  13. This mango torshi looks great and sounds to die-for; I love Iranian specialties like this, especially if they come from a trusted family recipe; it must have been wonderful to get the ingredients for it from your garden, I can just imagine a Persian garden and how lovely it is.

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  14. That's great!

    I am just start to making:) although I don't have all spices but I will subsitiute them and will tell you the results:)

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  15. These look wonderful, and the recipe is perfect timing for us - I live in Queensland, Australia, and we have mangoes coming out of our ears at this time of year. I can't wait to try it.

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