Before you begin take the spices and salt in small bowls and keep them in sunlight for a 1 to 2 hours. This step is optional but does help in getting rid of any moisture from the spices and salt.

Later take the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds in a dry grinder jar or a spice-grinder.

Grind to a coarse mixture.

Rinse and wipe the unripe green mangoes well with a clean kitchen towel. You can even let the mangoes dry naturally. In the photo you only see two mangoes, but they were very large mangoes weighing 1 kilogram together.

Chop the mangoes in 3 inches pieces. Discard the stones but do peel off the flesh from the stones if any. No need to remove the outer skin of the mangoes if they are tender and soft. You will need 7 to 7.5 cups chopped mangoes.

Take the chopped mangoes in a large mixing bowl. Batter to use a steel or a glass bowl as they are non-reactive.

Now first add the ground fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.

Then add the remaining spices – fennel seeds (saunf), nigella seeds (kalonji), turmeric powder and red chilli powder. I have added two types of red chilli powder – kashmiri red chilli powder (for colour) and a spicy red chilli powder. You can use even just one type of red chilli powder.

Add salt.

With a steel or wooden spoon, mix very well so that the spices uniformly coat the mango pieces. Check the taste of the pickle masala mixture or 1 to 2 mango pieces. The taste should be slightly salty. If not, then add more salt.

Now pour ½ cup of mustard oil.

Mix very well.

Spoon the prepared pickle mixture in a clean ceramic jar or glass jar. Use a clean spoon.

Seal with lid and keep in sunlight for 3 to 4 days. I used two jars. Note that the sunlight should be very good with the strong sun rays falling on the pickle jar. It should not be cloudy or dark. In the evening, get the jar inside and keep in a cool dry place. Next morning again keep in the sunlight.

Everyday after sun-drying in the evening, open the lid and give a gentle mix to the pickle with a clean spoon. This is the pickle being mixed on the first day. Take the mango pieces settled at the bottom upwards in the jar and give a thorough mix. Basically mixing and tossing that needs to be done. Do this everyday.

On the last day, pour 2.5 cups of mustard oil in the jar.

Again with a clean spoon give a thorough mix. The oil should seep inside in the jar and reach the bottom of the jar too. You want all the mango pieces to be surrounded with some oil. Note that you do not need to heat the mustard oil. You can add more mustard oil if required. Do note that the mustard oil should float above the pickle by 2 to 3 inches. Always remember to keep the oil floating above the pickle.

Seal with the lid and keep in a cool dry place for 4 days until everything gets mellowed and pickled. Initially you may find a slight bitter taste in the pickle, but after 6 to 7 days, the bitterness will go away.

Enjoy this Punjabi Mango Pickle with any Pakistani meal. The pickle stays good for a year at room temperature without refrigeration.