Arachu kalakki

Arachu Kalakki is a type of kadi that can be made in a jiffy. The name itself means arachu - grind kalakki -mix. So its just grind and mix to make this dish which gets done within 10 minutes.  My mom in law used to make this quickie whenever we had very little time to make dinner. In Tambram households one can always find baby mango (whole) pickles (vadu-mangai), usually home made when in season. My mom used to make mango pickle during summer when women carrying big baskets of baby mangoes used to sell them door to door. These will be washed, measured and salt added proportionately, and placed in big "Bharanis" and left to marinade. It will be a week or more before you can taste the pickle. Chillis and other spices are added to make chilli mango pickle.

The glory of mango pickle is exalted in this saying which i have heard my amma say "matha ootatha sadam mangai ootum" meaning even if your mother does not feed with her own hands, if you have mango pickle you will eat the rice.

So why did I say so much about the mango pickle in a blog post for arachu kalakki? Well pickle is the important ingredient in this dish. If you do not have baby mango pickle, you can use amla(gooseberry) pickle too. On our recent trip to India I picked up a couple of bottles of vadu mangai pickles. But they were so very spicy that we could not even take a bite without downing a couple of glasses of water, so I set them aside for the arachu kalakki.

Ingredients
Vadu Mangai -- 3-4 baby mangoes with some gravy
Coconut flakes - 5 tbsp
Asafeteida(hing) - 1/4 tsp
Cumin (Jeeragam) - 1/2 tsp
Red chillis - 1-2 (optional- depends on the spicyness of the pickle)
Salt (optional again depends on the pickle)
Yogurt (preferably sour) - 4 tbsp
Water as needed

Tempering
Cooking oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 0.5 tsp

Garnish
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves shredded

Method

1. Grind together all the items under ingredients to a smooth paste by adding required quantity of water. Taste test and add salt or chillis as needed and grind again.
2. In a saucepan pour the grind and add water to bring it up to desired consistency. Put on medium flame.
3. Once the liquid starts to froth, remove from heat. Do not boil as the yogurt and water will separate. Add the garnish.
4. Prepare the tempering and pour over the grind.

Arachu kalakki is ready and is best eaten with rice and idiyappams.