As a child I was pampered with loads of mangos during summer. Because this fruit can increase your body heat my dad used to cut the mangos and give each person a share, you get either the pulp or the seed. Of course I used to get a slightly higher share because this fruit is my absolute favorite. I some how used to coax him to give me a whole mango and some days I did get lucky and enjoyed the fruit to my hearts content. After migrating to CA, I don’t get as much chance to enjoy this fruit because the variety is not the same as we get in India. Moreover I have fierce competition from my daughter who unfortunately inherited this gene of mine and absolutely goes crazy when she sees this fruit. Whenever I do get ripe mangoes I prepare this gravy as this is one of her favorite gravy dishes and somehow even if I add lots of veggies in the dish there is no complaint from anyone in the family. The first time I had this dish was in a Malaysian restaurant and we all fell in love with this dish. I replicated this dish with trial and error and have made it to suit my family’s taste palate. Here it goes for Day 1, BM#15, group 2 under “Kid’s Delight-Fruit” theme. Also, linking it to Nupur’s event for Kids-Delight.

Ingredients:

Tofu — 1/2 package (14 oz package of extra firm tofu)

Onion –1 medium (sliced lengthwise)

Carrot — 1 (sliced lengthwise like julienne)

Green Bell pepper — 1 (sliced lengthwise)

Red Bell pepper — 1 (sliced lengthwise)

Mango — 1 large (sliced lengthwise with skin removed)

Corn starch — 2 Tbsp

Low sodium soy sauce — 3 Tbsp

Sweet & Sour sauce — 2 Tbsp

White pepper powder — 2 tsp

Hot chilli sauce — 2 tsp (Adjust to taste) ….optional

Cooking oil — 2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste — 1 1/2 Tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and rinse tofu with water. Cover with a paper towel and press lightly to remove excess water. Cube the tofu in to 18 pieces. In a pan add 2 Tbsp of oil and shallow fry tofu until they are crispy on all sides. Strain them on a paper towel and set aside.

2. In a wok or wide pan, add the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil and fry ginger-garlic paste for a minute. Now add onions and fry them until golden brown. Add sliced green peppers, red peppers, carrots. Cover the lid and cook in medium-low flame for about 5 minutes. The veggies should be firm and crunchy but cooked. Now add mangos, fried tofu, soy sauce, sweet & sour sauce, white pepper powder and combine well.

3. In a small cup add 1/2 cup of water and cornstarch and whisk them in to a paste. Make sure there are no lumps. Add this cornstarch paste and hot chilli sauce, if using, to the veggies and mix well. Let the sauce thicken to the desired consistency. Remove from fire and Enjoy with your choice of steamed or sticky rice!!!

Note:

1. Sky is the limit to the variations of veggies you can add to this dish. Some veggies that I can think of are water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushroom, celery, broccoli, potato.

2. Green onions and/or coriander leaves can be added for garnish.

3. Hot chilli sauce can be substituted with red pepper flakes as a variation.