Sweet & spicy aam launji is a traditional Indian recipe made with raw mangoes, aromatic spices like cumin, nigella, mustard, and jaggery as sweetener. It is vegan, gluten free & an absolutely delightful condiment to add to your everyday meals.
Green raw mangoes, also known as ‘keri’ or ‘kacche aam’, are basically unripe mangoes with sour taste. This aam ki launji combines this tartness with sweetness of jaggery, zesty red chilli, and earthy roasted spices to create a punch of flavour.
Mango Launji is very easy, quick to make and takes less than 20 min. With onset of mango season, it is a ‘must make’ recipe at my home as everyone relishes it so much with paratha, poori, mathri or even simple meals like dal-chawal or dal-roti.
Ingredients to make Aam Launji:
Raw mangoes- Always pick spotless raw mangoes which are hard to touch. There should not be any softness or yellowish tinge to them. Apart from launji, you can make refreshing summer drink aam panna with it or add it to cilantro chutney for sweet-sour flavour.
Spices- One of the key highlights of this dish is the use of ‘Panch Phoron’. It is a blend of five spices- methi (fenugreek), jeera (cumin), rai (Mustard), kalonji (nigella), saunf (fennel), and is crucial in imparting that distinct taste to aam launji.
Apart from it, we also use red chilli powder for making it slightly spicy and add some black salt to add tangy savoury taste. The amount of chilli powder can be adjusted depending on how spicy you want the dish to be.
Sweetener- Jaggery adds an earthy sweetness due to the presence of molasses in it. It comes in both block and powder form, you can use any. If you don’t have jaggery, replace it with brown sugar or regular sugar.
Oil- Traditionally this dish is made in mustard oil but if you find its aroma too strong or it is unavailable, use any other cooking oil.
How to make aam launji?
You may see long list of spices in ingredients list but actually it is a very simple to make. We begin by first heating the oil and then roast spices in it. Once they begin to release their aroma, we add raw mango pieces (or slices along) with salt & water.
It is cook covered till the mango pieces soften up. We then add jaggery, chilli powder, and simmer till the jaggery syrup thickens up. Towards the end we end black salt and let the launji cool on room temp before storing it in fridge.
Similar to aam launji, we also make amla launji. Instead of raw mangoes, we use amla (Indian gooseberry) while rest of the recipe remains almost the same.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- Kacche Aam (Raw Mango)- 2 to 3 pieces (500 g)
- Mustard Oil- 2 tbsp (or any cooking oil)
- Heeng (Asafoetida)- A big pinch
- Methi (Fenugreek seeds)- 1/2 tsp
- Jeera (Cumin seeds)- 1/4 tsp
- Rai (Mustard seeds)- 1/4 tsp
- Kalonji (Nigella Seeds)- 1/4 tsp
- Saunf (Fennel Seeds)- 1 tsp
- Haldi (Turmeric powder)- 1/4 tsp
- Water- 3/4 cup
- Salt- 1/2 tsp (to taste)
- Jaggery (chopped)- 1/2 cup
- Red Chilli Powder- 1/2 tsp
- Black Salt- 1/2 tsp
Directions:
Step 1:
Wash & pat dry the raw mangoes. Chop their top part and peel them. First cut off all the pulp from around the seed, and then thinly slice them (discard the seed). Keep aside.
Step 2:
Heat oil in a pan. Add hing, methi, jeera, rai, saunf, kalonji & turmeric. Sauté while stirring till the seeds begin to crackle and start releasing their aroma.
Step 3:
Add mango slices, salt & water. Mix well and cover the pan with lid. Simmer for 6-7 min.
Step 4:
Open the lid and check a piece by cutting with a knife. It should be tender and get cut easily. If not, then cover & cook for 2-3 min more.
Step 5:
Add jaggery & red chilli powder. Mix well and simmer. The jaggery will melt completely, then begin to thicken. Stir in between.
Step 6:
Once the mixture thickens and launji appears glossy, turn off the heat. Add black salt and mix well. Let the launji cool down in pan itself. It will thicken more on cooling down. Enjoy it with poori, paratha or roti.
Tips:
- Let the launji cool down completely before transferring it to any container.
- You can store launji in fridge in an airtight container for 10-12 days. Always use clean spoon to scoop it.
- Feel free to adjust the quantity of jaggery or sugar as per your liking.
- To give brighter colour to launji without making it too spicy, use kashmiri red chilli powder.
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(P.S: The post was originally published on 12th March’2020 and has been updated with better recipe and images.)
If you try this aam ki launji recipe & share pics on social media, then don’t forget to tag on Facebook, Instagram or use #kuchpakrahahai.
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(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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