Summer and Pickles - Part 1

We all have fond memories of summer. Mine revolve around going to visit my grandparents and having fun with cousins. 

Of course, mangoes and pickles. I don't know about other states but in Andhra Pradesh, pickles are the lifeline. Pickle has to be included in every meal. And preparing pickles is an art by itself. Every summer all the households turn into small scale industries. Majority of our pickles are mango based and summer is the season for mangoes. And such varieties in mango pickles - avakai - multiple sub-types, magai, menthikai to name a few. My grandparents had 4 mango trees in their backyard. So come pickle season lots of hustle bustle. Getting men to pluck the mangoes - it should not fall on the ground else they crack, another set to cut the mangoes into pieces - all should be similar and should have seed on them there are special knives for that, ladies to grind (using mortar and pestle) the mustard seeds and red chillies, and my grandmother for the final mixing of all the ingredients. We kids used to run around very busy and even the little work entrusted to us was of utmost importance !!! Of course the waiting period. After the initial mix, there is the inevitable waiting for the taste to set in before we could eat it. Of course there were raw mango pieces, soaked in salt and turmeric and dried in sun, which could be eaten now and then. Ah, those days.

Later as we grew older, summer vacation were gone, busy with studies and then jobs, no one had time to go for the avakai manufacturing. But then pickles used to arrive at home without fail. I don't remember when my mother started making pickles but grandmother's pickles got replaced by mom's pickles and then supplemented by my mother-in-law's. 

My first tryst with avakai was when we were in London. Somehow, we managed to lay our hands on raw mangoes. We were in a temporary, paying guest accommodation. I managed to grind mustard seeds and made a temporary ava baddalu. What a sensational hit it was!!!! But later somehow I didn't get a chance for repeat performance. We returned to India. My hubby became very involved in my mil's small scale industry. Going to market with her, to buy all the ingredients, and then mixing avakai (he is interested only in avakai no other variety). We used to help my mil but never full fledged effort. Then my parents shifted to Hyderabad and there too it was the helper position that was accorded to me.

(to be contd...)