Summer is the season for mangoes. Mango season starts from March. The first to come into the market during the mango season is vadu mangai . Tender, raw mangoes are called as vadu mangai or maa vadu in Tamil. It’s mainly used for making pickles. It’s usually made in large quantities and stored for a year. And I am no exception.
Two weeks back, I had bought vadu mangai to make pickle. I had kept aside few as it was little more than required to make the pickle.
Few days back when I was making kosmari ( it’s a traditional salad made with moong dal in Brahmin community) , I got this idea of adding vadu mangai to give some crunch and punch to the salad.
I was very glad that I did that as the salad was well appreciated by my family. Vadu mangai added a good crunch, freshness and tanginess to the salad 🙂

Ingredients
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Moong dal ( green gram/ paasi paruppu)- 1/2 cup
Carrot – 1
Cucumber- 1
Green capsicum- 1
Vadu maanga- 7-8
Chopped coriander leaves- 2 tbsps
Grated coconut- 2 tbsps
Walnuts chopped – 1 tbsp
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Roasted peanuts – 2 tbsps
For the dressing
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Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Coconut oil- 2 tsps
Pepper – 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1/4tsp
Salt to taste
Method
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Wash the moong dal well and soak it for 2 hrs. Drain well and keep it aside.
Wash, peel and grate carrot.
Wash, peel and chop cucumber.
Wash and chop capsicum and vadu maanga.
Take a big mixing bowl.
Add soaked moong dal, vegetables, coconut, chopped walnuts, peanuts and raisins and mix well.
Mix the ingredients mentioned for dressing well.
Just before serving, add the dressing to the salad, mix well, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately:)


PS
If interested, you can check the link here for another recipe made with vadu
Mangai.