Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Kairi ki Karhi
Kairi ki Karhi (Raw Mango Curry)

Kairi ki Karhi

Raw Mango Curry
Vegetarian●●●Origin HyderabadPrep 20 minutesCook 30 minutes

A tart, comforting curry featuring tender green mango simmered in a rich, spiced yogurt and gram flour sauce.

Popping spices

0.8 gFried in hot oil to begin the base (step 2)
01
0.8 g¼ teaspoon
spice
Keep whole.

Whole tempering seeds

2 gAdded after the mustard seeds start to pop (step 2)
01
0.9 g¼ teaspoon
spice
02
1.1 g½ teaspoon
spice
Keep whole.

Ground spices and garlic

8 gStirred into the softened aromatics (step 3)
01
0.8 g¼ teaspoon
spice
02
2.6 g1 teaspoon
spice
03
5 g1 teaspoon
aromatic
Stir together into an even blend.

Everything else

01
Green mango · Kaccha Aampeeled and cut into bite-sized pieces, stones (pits) reserved
800 g4 mangoes
fruit
02
46 g50 ml
oil/fat
03
150 g1 onion
vegetable
04
1.5 g6 leaves
herb
05
507 g500 ml
dairy
06
12 g2 tablespoons
flour
07
4.2 g1 teaspoon
sweetener
08
Green chilli · Hari Mirchde-seeded and chopped
36 g6 chillies
vegetable
09
Coriander · Dhanialeaves only, chopped
~100 g1 bunch
herb
10
to taste
salt

Method

  1. Place 4 raw mangoes and their reserved pits into a large, heavy saucepan with 500 ml water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes until the fruit is tender. Lift out and discard the pits, setting the mangoes and their poaching liquid aside.
  2. Warm 45.6 g vegetable oil in a second heavy pan set over medium heat. Add the popping spices and cook for roughly 1 minute until they crackle, then stir in the whole tempering seeds, 150 g onion, and 1.5 g curry leaf. Fry for 5 to 6 minutes until the onions are completely soft.
  3. Add the ground spices and garlic along with 1 teaspoon ginger and a light seasoning of salt. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes until aromatic, then pour in 250 ml water.
  4. Whisk 507 g plain yogurt and 2 tablespoon chickpea flour together in a bowl until completely smooth. Stir this into the pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  5. Tip in the cooked mangoes along with their simmering liquid, 4.2 g granulated sugar, and 36 g green chilli. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
  6. Fold in 100 g coriander leaves, season with salt to taste, and serve hot.

Don't have something?

Green mango
Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Mustard seed
  • Black mustard seed

    Use the same weight. The seeds are smaller and hotter; fry in hot oil until they pop, about 20–30 seconds, and reduce the heat if they darken too fast. The dish will be a little sharper.

  • Yellow mustard seeds

    Use the same weight. They are milder and larger; fry a few seconds longer until they pop. The finished dish will have less pungency.

  • Ground mustard seed

    Use 70% of the weight of whole seed, added with the other ground spices rather than fried whole. You lose the popping texture and the heat comes through more evenly.

Fenugreek seed
  • Mustard seed

    Use 50% of the weight, crush or grind. Sharper heat and less maple-bitter; fry briefly in oil before adding.

  • Caraway seeds

    Use the same weight, crush lightly. Similar bitter-seed note but more aniseed; reduce other sweet spices slightly.

  • Ajwain seeds

    Use 25–30% of the weight, crush. Much stronger thyme-like flavour; do not overdo.

Cumin seed
  • Ground cumin

    Use 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

  • Black cumin seeds

    Use equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.

  • Fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.

Onion
  • Shallot

    Use equal weight, finely sliced. Shallots soften and brown faster, giving a slightly sweeter and more delicate base to curries.

  • Cabbage

    Use 80% of the weight, finely shredded and browned slowly with a pinch of asafoetida. Replicates the bulk and natural sweetness in gravies without allium.

Curry leaf
  • Bay leaf

    Fry 1 bay leaf for every 5 curry leaves in hot oil; imparts a warm, woodsy background note, but misses the citrus-sulphury punch entirely.

  • Lime juice

    Add a small squeeze (about 5 ml per sprig of curry leaves) right before serving; provides sharp citrus top notes without the toasty, herbal aroma.

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Chilli powder
  • Red chilli powder

    Use 100% of the weight. Provides direct, sharp heat and red colour in equal measure.

  • Kashmiri chilli powder

    Use 150% to 200% of the weight if matching colour, but add a pinch of black pepper or hot chilli if you need equivalent fiery heat.

  • Cayenne pepper

    Use 75% to 100% of the weight. Offers a sharp, clean heat with slightly less earthy depth and less crimson colour.

Ground fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use the same weight; it is practically the same.

  • Fresh ginger

    Grate the same weight; it is the same but more fibrous.

  • Ground ginger

    Use about 30% of the weight, mixed with a little water; it is drier and hotter, with less fresh brightness.

Ground garlic
  • Garlic powder

    Use equal weight (1:1). Behaves virtually identically, dissolving seamlessly into dry rubs or wet gravies.

  • Garlic paste

    Use 300% to 400% of the weight (e.g. 3–4 g paste for 1 g ground). Sauté in oil to cook off the raw moisture; imparts a fresher, sharper punch.

  • Garlic

    Finely mince or grate fresh cloves; use 300% to 400% of the weight. Fry gently in oil early in the cooking process to mellow the pungency.

Plain yogurt
  • Yogurt

    Use equal weight, whisked thoroughly until smooth before adding to hot dishes to prevent curdling.

  • Coconut milk

    Use equal weight with 1 teaspoon lemon juice mixed in. Provides rich creaminess in curries, but adds a noticeable coconut flavour.

  • Single cream

    Use 80% of the weight plus a squeeze of lemon juice for acidity. Enriches sauces nicely, though it is richer and less tangy.

Chickpea flour
  • Yellow split pea flour

    Use 100% of the weight. Many commercial gram flours are milled from split peas; performs identically in pakora batters and kadhi.

  • Cornstarch

    For crisping batters or binding cutlets: use 50% to 60% of the weight. Produces a very crisp shell but lacks the earthy, roasted nutty flavour of besan.

Granulated sugar
  • Jaggery

    Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Green chilli
  • Chilli powder

    Use 10 to 15% of the weight (about 1/4 teaspoon per chilli); imparts dry pungent heat and reddens the dish without the grassy crunch.

  • Dried red chilli

    Use 1 dried pod per fresh green chilli; snap in half and temper in hot oil for a deeper, toastier heat.

Coriander
  • Coriander leaf

    Use equal weight, chopped fresh and stirred in off the heat or used as garnish. Matches the citrus-herbal profile identically.

  • Mint

    Use 40% to 50% of the weight; chop finely and add at the very end. Adds fresh herbal brightness, but shifts the aroma toward cool menthol.

Similar dishes

Rajasthani Karhi
Gram (Chickpea) Flour & Yoghurt Curry
Rajasthani Karhi is much less tart, has significantly milder heat, and lacks the sweet-and-sour fruitiness of this dish, tasting predominantly of earthy cumin and savory asafoetida.
  • Same: Rajasthani Karhi shares a base of yogurt and chickpea flour seasoned with cumin, garlic, green chillies, turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: It omits the raw mango, onions, curry leaves, mustard, fenugreek, and sugar, using asafoetida and finishing with a cumin-infused ghee tempering instead.
Kairi ki Chutney
Raw Green Mango Chutney
Kairi ki Chutney tastes sharper, punchier, and more intensely spiced than this tart, comforting yogurt-based curry.
  • Same: Kairi ki Chutney shares green mango, mustard seed, fenugreek, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, and a little vegetable oil with this dish.
  • Different: Kairi ki Chutney uses sesame oil as its main fat and adds mustard powder, asafoetida, dried red chilli, chana dal, and urad dal, while it lacks this dish’s yogurt, chickpea flour, onion, curry leaf, ginger, garlic, green chilli, coriander, and sugar.
Karhi Pakori
Dumpling & Yoghurt Curry
Karhi Pakori tastes richer, earthier, and more buttery from the ghee and fried dumplings, lacking the sweet fruitiness and sharp green chilli heat of this dish.
  • Same: Karhi Pakori also simmers a tart base of plain yogurt thickened with chickpea flour and seasoned with cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: Instead of raw mango, onion, garlic, curry leaves, and fenugreek seeds cooked in vegetable oil, Karhi Pakori includes fried moong dal fritters and a tempering finished in ghee with asafoetida and dried red chillies.
Kokam ni Karhi
Sweet & Sour Yoghurt Soup
Kokam ni Karhi tastes noticeably sweeter and fruitier from the jaggery and kokum, lacking the savory garlic-and-onion depth and sharper green chilli heat of this dish.
  • Same: Like this dish, Kokam ni Karhi uses a base of yogurt and chickpea flour tempered with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin, and curry leaves.
  • Different: Kokam ni Karhi uses kokum instead of raw mango for sourness, adds masoor dal, jaggery, ginger paste, and asafoetida, and omits the onion, garlic, turmeric, and fresh green chillies used in this dish.