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Fajeto
March 2, 2007 | 15 Comments
A Yogurt-based Mango Curry
This curry, featuring mangoes, yogurt and chickpea flour, has its origins in the Gujarati community in South Africa. It has since become integral to Gujarati cuisine in India. It’s sweet, tangy and hot, all at once.
It’s Aamras with Attitude.
We came across this recipe from two sources – Tarla Dalal’s The Complete Gujarati Cookbook, and Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible.
Fajeto sounded quite similar to the Mango Pulissheri Keralites make during mango season. We prepare it often, ‘cos frozen cubed mango is available all year round at the local supermarket. In the Gujarati version, the coconut is replaced with besan or chickpea flour.
We opted for the Tarla Dalal version, ‘cos it had unusual, aromatic ingredients like ginger powder and cinnamon. We were not disappointed. This kadhi matched our beloved Mango Pulissheri in taste, was quicker to prepare, and the absence of coconut meant fewer calories. (You can see the Madhur Jaffrey version here.)
We have tried and enjoyed an array of recipes from The Complete Gujarati Cookbook. In the process, we’ve learnt that when Tarla Dalal says ‘serves 4′, she’s probably referring to foetuses. Or ferrets. We always double or triple her recipes, ‘cos the specified quantities yield minuscule portions. This dish, in particular, calls for a large batch, ‘cos it tastes better the next day. Our recipe serves four adult humans.
We halved the cayenne and used whole cinnamon instead of powdered. It was still blazing hot. And fantastic.
RECIPE
Fajeto
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
Set 1
2 cups alphonso mango pulp
2 cups plain yogurt (we used 1%)
2 tbsps. besan or chickpea flour
1/2 tsp. cayenne (chilli) powder
2 tsps. green chilli-ginger paste
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. powdered jaggery (or maple syrup)
salt to taste
Set 2
3 sticks cinnamon
3 cloves (powdered)
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1.5 tsps. mustard seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
3 broken red chillies
1/2 tsp. asafoetida
12 curry leaves
2 tsps. oil
Method
1. Mix all the ingredients in Set 1, and whisk them together to ensure a smooth consistency.
2. Heat the oil, add the cinnamon, cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard pops, add the powders, curry leaves and dry chillies, and stir for 30 seconds.
3. Add the mango-yogurt mixture, and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the raw smell of the chickpea flour is no longer discernable. Do not bring to a boil.
Serve with rotis, pooris or rice.
This is our entry for Nupur’s A to Z of Indian Vegetables Series at One Hot Stove for her ‘F’ event .
Filed Under: besan, chickpea-flour, Dairy/Cheese, gram-flour, Gujarat, India, kadhi, Mango, The-Complete-Gujarati-Cookbook, vegetarian recipes, yogurt
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15 Comments
Hi Bee & Jai,
This is such an interesting recipe – like “Kadhi” but with magoes. never tried fajeto before but it tops my “must try” list. Thanks for sharing this great recipe
LOL @ “It’s Aamras with Attitude”!!
Looks delicious and very unique dish.
Lovely! I adore this..my mother used to make this for me with leftover Keris..she would often add the whole mango in the kadhi for an even deeper flavor. A classic Gujarati recipe…thank you.
Nice write-up and pic. The ending made me laugh!
Bee & Jai, my first time to your blog. I don’t know how I missed your blog. Wonderful collection of recipes and Fajeto sounds delicious. I like the description – aamras with attitude
Hi again, Bee! I saw your comment on my blog and clicked on it to publish but it disappeared! Thanks for adding me to your blogroll, I’ve left a message on my own blog as well!
That’s a very interesting recipe and that picture makes it more exotic.
My First time here,u have a great thing going here!!!
woh!!!
never heard anything like this recipe, sounds and looks very interesting!! u did twist my arm so i am going to make it this weekend and will update u bee
thank u so much
thank you all, for your kind comments. do try the recipe and tell us how it turned out. – jai.
Where have I been?!!
I loooove this blog of yours! And the pictures, and the recipes….And the pictures!
au contraire, where have we been…thanks for visiting
Hi Bee and Jai
I remember my mom used to make mango pulp morkozhambu. This one is so similar to her recipe. Thanks.
I do too…and the mango seed with little flesh sticking to it thrown in for good measure. I used to be the designated “seed polisher” and I did a fine job of implementing the “no pulp left behind” policy –Jai
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i made fajeto for dinner tonight, to go with chappati. it tasted so wonderful. and it was so fragrant, once the raw besan flour had cooked. it smelt as fragrant as your awesome erisheri!! and i wonder why, because i added neither any coconut nor coconut oil. we could hardly wait to eat it, and ended up eating it almost piping hot. almost burned our tongues. worth it, though.
husband immediately declared this as a dish fit for guests (as in many homes, in mine too, guests are never aware of the dishes i DON’T make well, just of the ones i DO). ;;)
Just had this for dinner tonight with naans. Delicious and quick! Will definitely be making it again.