Katki-keri pickle
Born in the heart of Gujarat, Katki-keri is the younger sister of chhundo. For generations, families have awaited the mango season, when the first raw, green mangoes arrive fresh from orchards. From these prized fruits comes the spirited soul of Katki. The hand cut uniform dicing of hard mango flesh packs a potent punch in this sweet mango pickle delicacy. Delicately diced, each perfect cube of raw mango is anointed with luscious sugar amidst the chorus of roasted spices.
Kids love it and when they grow up to become elders they would wish to go back to those golden days of childhood and energy when a playground visit follows the home kitchen to stylish Katki made to the tongue and tummies of hungry children. Adults can rescue themselves from this jealousy by keeping a bottle with them in their offices for a quick wrap meal.
Nevertheless, the paradox of the soft and crunchy mango dice stays on the tongues of all people equally. Spread proudly on your plate, Katki seeps gently into every bite, wrapping your thepla, khichdi, or steaming rice with bold Gujarati flair. Pair it with roti and sabji or simply steal a spoonful straight from the jar – Pasand Katki elevates every bite into an indulgence.
Behind the scenes
When people think of Indian mangoes, they instinctively recall Alphonso from Ratnagiri or Kesar from Junagadh. Yet tucked away on Gujarat’s southern coastline lies Valsad, a quiet and modest district that has been quietly scripting its own mango legacy.
Valsad’s soil is a gift of the sea and the rivers. The land here is kissed by the Arabian Sea’s humid breeze while nourished by the Damanganga and Auranga rivers. This unique microclimate produces rajapuri mangoes with an intensely sweet and softly aromatic, often less fibrous than their more famous cousins. This large fruit mango variety is cherished in villages but rarely sold in big metros and yet forms the base of traditional pickles like Katki and Chhundo, preserving the essence of summer for the entire year.
Valsad’s Rajapuri orchards are among the oldest in India, with some groves dating back over a century, lovingly tended by the same farming families for generations. Farmers here still follow age-old practices: grafting with patience, hand-plucking fruits much before dawn completing the harvesting before sunrise.
Freshly harvested mangoes in the peak of May-June arrive early morning at the pickle plant and are washed and sorted physically to get the best of the best to enter the pickling premises. The thorough washing removes all soil, dirt, extraneous matter to give clean shiny fruit. These are halved, deseeded and manually diced with precision and finesse to give the signature cubes of katki. The pickling process goes through a secret mix of spices and condiments to give the perfect home-made recipe of katki-keri packed in pre-cleaned glass jars as authentic traditional pickle condiment.
