Ambe Dal

Raw mango with chana dal — soaked split chickpeas ground coarsely with fresh grated coconut, green chilli, and a small piece of raw mango (ambe), seasoned with salt and tempered with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and asafoetida in coconut oil. The result is a fresh, grainy, intensely flavoured preparation eaten cold at the summer meal; the raw mango's sharpness against the nuttiness of the soaked (not cooked) chana dal is one of Saraswat cooking's most refreshing summer preparations. Made during the raw mango season from March to May; ambe dal is a Saraswat tradition tied to the Konkan summer when Alphonso and local mango trees are laden with small, intensely sour raw fruit.