Avakaya (Andhra mango pickle)
Vegetarian
ఆవకాయ · āvakāya
Sour raw mango cut with its hard shell, coated in fiery Guntur chilli powder, freshly ground mustard and salt and steeped in gingelly oil. The summer pickle of Andhra Pradesh, eaten mixed into hot rice with ghee and dal.
Avakaya (Andhra mango pickle) is a South Indian pickle, ready in about 73 hours and made with raw green mango, cayenne / chilli powder and mustard seeds. It serves 80 and is rated intermediate to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 1 h
- Cook
- 0 min
- Rest
- 72 h
- Total
- 73 h
- Serves
- 80
- Level
- Intermediate
- Calories
- 49
About 1 hour of work, then 3 days' resting before the first mix; best after 2–3 weeks.
Method
Step 1
Wash the mangoes and dry them completely with a cloth; then air-dry for an hour. Any water will spoil the pickle. Using a heavy, sharp knife or a pickle cutter, cut each mango through its hard inner shell into 3–4 cm pieces. Discard the soft white kernel and the thin papery skin inside the shell, and wipe every piece dry.
Food safety: Cutting through mango shell takes force; use a heavy knife, keep fingers clear and cut on a stable board.
Step 2
Grind the mustard seeds (opens in a new tab) to a fine powder in short bursts. In a large, completely dry bowl, mix the chilli powder, mustard powder, salt, fenugreek (opens in a new tab) seeds and turmeric (opens in a new tab) evenly.
How it looks · Photo: https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels Step 3
Pour in about half the oil and mix to a damp, brick-red masala. Add the mango pieces (and garlic (opens in a new tab)) and toss with a dry hand or spoon until every piece is thickly coated.
Step 4
Pack into a sterilised, completely dry ceramic jar or glass jar and pour the remaining oil over the top. Cover with a clean cloth and lid and leave at room temperature for 3 days.
Step 5
On the third day, open the jar and mix thoroughly from the bottom with a long, dry ladle. The mango will have released juice and the oil should now float above the pickle; if it does not, warm a little more gingelly oil (opens in a new tab) until it just shimmers, let it cool completely and add it. The avakaya can be eaten after a week and is at its best after 2–3 weeks.
- 5 min
Food safety: If you warm extra oil, let it cool completely before adding it.
About this dish
- Origin
- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, India · Well documentedAvakaya (from avalu, mustard, and kaya, unripe fruit) is the best-known Telugu pickle. The roughly equal-parts chilli, mustard and salt method follows common family recipes; proportions vary by household.More food from India
- Dish
- Lunch · Dinner · Pickles & ferments · Condiments, chutneys & relishes
- Cooking method
- Fermented, Marinated / cured
- Taste
- spicy (chilli heat), sour, salty, aromatic / warmly spiced
- Diet
- Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carbWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb - Good for
- Make-ahead · Batch cooking
- Cook more with
- Raw green mango · Cayenne / chilli powder · Mustard seeds · Gingelly oil (untoasted sesame oil) · Fenugreek · Turmeric
- Techniques
- Marinating · Fermentation · Pickling · Curing · Drying
Allergens
- Contains: Sesamefrom gingelly oil (untoasted sesame oil)
- Contains: Mustardfrom mustard seeds
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
49 kcal per serving
Estimated1 serving ≈ 20 g · recipe makes 80
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 5%
- Carbohydrate 23%
- Fat 72%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 49 kcal | 244 kcal |
| Protein | 0.6 g | 3.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g | 15.1 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 2.3 g | 11.5 g |
| Sugars | 1.9 g | 9.6 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0.7 g | 3.7 g |
| Fat | 4.2 g | 20.9 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.6 g | 2.8 g |
| Trans fat | — | — |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 437 mg | 2184 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 1.1 g | 5.5 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 57 mg
- Calcium
- 7 mg
- Iron
- 0.3 mg
- Magnesium
- 8 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 33 µg
- Vitamin C
- 6 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 9 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- Optional ingredients are not included: garlic.
- Raw green mango: Ripe raw mango (FDC 169910) used as a stand-in; unripe green mango is more acidic and has less sugar, so sugars are slightly overstated.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- Choose very sour, hard mangoes with a fully formed shell; ripe or soft mangoes turn mushy.
- Grind the mustard fresh: stale mustard powder loses its pungency, and the pungency is the point of avakaya.
Common mistakes
- Any water on the knife, bowl, mango or spoon — the commonest cause of mould.
- Too little oil: pieces left exposed above the oil spoil.
Serve with
- Mix into hot rice with ghee and a little pappu (dal), the classic Telugu meal.
- Serve on the side with curd rice, pesarattu or dosa.
Food safety
- Store in a scrupulously clean, completely dry jar (sterilise it in boiling water or a low oven and let it dry fully) and always use a dry spoon; moisture is what spoils chutneys, podis and pickles.
- Discard the pickle if you see fuzzy mould or smell rot; a layer of oil and enough salt are what keep it safe.
Storage
- Keeps a year in a cool, dark place as long as the oil covers the pickle and only a dry spoon is used; the mango softens over the months.
Variations
- Bellam avakaya: Sweet-hot avakaya with grated jaggery mixed into the masala.
- Pesara avakaya: Moong dal flour instead of mustard; milder and eaten sooner.
- Allam avakaya: Ginger paste added to the masala.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Goes with
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
What the dish is built around
Main ingredient
- Raw green mango, very sour, firm pickling mangoes; washed, wiped completely dry and cut with the hard inner shell into 3–4 cm pieces, soft kernel and inner skin removed1000 g
Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.
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