Why your pickle darkens over the months
Bright red in June, brick red by December: what changes inside a jar of avakaya, and when to worry.
Pre-ordering avakaya: our April to June calendar
Why we take orders before the mangoes arrive, and when your jar is made, sealed and sent.
Avakaya can only be made once a year, in the short window when Nuzvid mangoes are fully grown but still hard and sour. That window is usually from the second week of May to the middle of June. Once the mangoes start to soften, the pieces turn mushy in the pickle and the batch is lost.
We open pre-orders on the first of April. Pre-ordering tells us how many mangoes to book from the two orchard families we buy from near Nuzvid, so we do not run short or end up with too many. You pay when you order, and we set your jars aside from the first batch.
The first mangoes reach our kitchen in Governorpet around 12 May, depending on the summer. Six women cut, mix and jar the first batch over three days, and it rests in large ceramic jars, called jaadis, for three weeks. During that time it is stirred every two or three days with a long dry wooden ladle, and the oil level is checked and topped up.
By the first week of June the pickle is ready. Local customers collect from the counter from about 5 June. Shipping across India begins the same week and takes three to six days; orders abroad go a week later. If you miss the pre-order, we usually have stock until early August. Maagaya and lemon pickle are made through the year, so those can be ordered any time.
