Cooking rice

Cup of Yum
1. First, soak rice in water for 20 minutes. Use any regular non-sticky rice or basmati rice.
2. After 20 minutes, pressure cook the rice with 2.5 cups water, salt and oil for 2 whistles on high heat. 
3. You can also cook the rice in a pot. If cooking in a pot, then you may need to add more water.
4. When the pressure settles down naturally, spread the rice on a plate. 
5. Keep aside and allow the rice to cool at room temperature. When the rice is warm, cover and keep so that the rice grains do not dry out.
6. While the rice is cooking, rinse, peel and chop the raw mango.

Making mango paste

1. In a grinder jar, add the chopped mangoes along with dried red chilies (broken and deseeded), chopped green chili, sesame seeds, peanuts, grated coconut and powdered or grated jaggery. 
2. I added jaggery to balance the sourness of the mangoes. If you don't have dried red chilies, add a total of 2 to 3 green chilies.
3. I used Byadgi red chilies which are not very hot. If using a hotter variety of red chilies, reduce the amount to 1 or 2.
4. Without adding any water, grind to a semi-fine paste. Don't make a fine paste. Keep aside.

Making mango rice

1. In a pan, heat oil and add peanuts.
2. On low heat, sauté the peanuts till they change color.
3. Then, bring the peanuts to the side of the pan and add mustard seeds in the center. Let the mustard seeds crackle. 
4. You can also add 1 teaspoon each of chana dal and urad dal at this step. If adding chana dal or urad dal, allow them to turn golden before you proceed to the next step.
5. When the mustard seeds crackle, add curry leaves and dried red chilies. Stir and sauté till the red chilies change color.
6. Then, add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Mix well.
7. Now, add the ground raw mango-coconut-spices paste. Stir and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes on low to medium-low heat or until the mixture thickens more and comes together. Next, season with salt.
8. Stir and mix very well again. Remove pan from the stovetop and set aside on the kitchen countertop.
9. Add the sautéed raw mango-coconut-spices masala to the cooked rice. You can mix in batches or at once. The rice has to be at room temperature before you start mixing.
10. Now, with your hands, gently mix the rice with the raw mango-coconut-spices masala. I mixed both the cooked rice and the masala in batches in a bowl.
11. Serve Mango Rice with some fried papads or chips. 
12. You can also serve with some yogurt or pickle. While serving, you can also garnish Mango Rice with chopped coriander leaves if you prefer.