Koottan means curry or gravy  in Malayalam that can be mixed with rice.Manga means mango. Manga koottan can be made with raw mango and vellarikka (ash gourd). Manga koottan is one of the important dish on vishu day .In Kerala we used to keep vellarikka for vishu Kani and make this dish using the Kani vellarikka. This is a simple dish  and can be  made  with in 20 minutes .It is tangy and spicy in taste.Let us see how to make this koottan

Preparation time approx  20 minutes:

Ingredients:

• 1 raw mango peel and cut in to  cubes.
• 1 cup cubed vellarikka or ash gourd.
• 1 1/2 cup curd.
• 4 red chillies
• 3 green chillies
• 1/2 tsp jeera
• 5 tbsp grated fresh coconut
• 1 tsp rice
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.

For seasoning

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1/4 tsp methi seeds
• 2 red chillies
• curry leaves

Method:

Grind coconut,jeera,red chillies,green chillies ,rice into fine paste adding little water. Keep aside.

Cook the mango and vellarikka adding a glass of water. Add salt and turmeric powder.
When it is cooked add the coconut paste and curd. Mix very well.If the gravy is thick add little water to adjust the consistency.
Cook in low flame. Stir in between. When it comes up switch off the stove. Do not cook more . Then the gravy will become watery.

Heat oil add mustard. When it started crackle add methi,red chillies and curry leaves. Switch off stove. Do not over fry methi. It will give bitter tastes to your curry.