This summery Indian mango curry is spicy, sweet and salty, with a smooth creaminess that coats your tongue. Make it in one pot in under 20 minutes.
Table of Contents
A traditional but easy Indian mango curry
In the Konkan region of western India, where mangoes are harvested in abundance between March and June, the fruit is used to make many tasty and seasonal dishes, including chutneys, pickles and curries. One mango curry, unrivaled in its deliciousness, is ambe sasam.
Ambe sasam, made with ripe, juicy, golden mangoes, is eaten all across the Konkan region with some variations. The recipe I am sharing today is similar - although not exactly the same - to one my Goan stepmom would cook up several times each summer. I remember she used a specific variety of mango: it was round, sweet as ambrosia, with flesh so tender that you had to sip on it rather than eat it.
This is one of my favorite mango recipes ever. The mango, so indescribably delicious, is the true star here, although other ingredients like mustard seeds, coconut and curry leaves add tasty, complimentary flavors. In the Konkan you'd add fresh coconut, picked from the trees that line the coast, to ambe sasam. But for ease and convenience I use coconut milk. I actually like the coconut milk version better because it makes the curry very creamy.
This is a simple, beginner-friendly recipe that needs nine ingredients and about 15 minutes to make. It is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free, and you can make a magnificent meal of it with just some basmati rice. Give it a try the next time you find golden, ripe mangoes at the market this summer.
OMG, I am jumping with joy because someone like me, who cannot cook, you have made me feel like I can cook! THANK YOU for this so easy, so flavorful, so delicious recipe that needed no prep time! Best thing!!! -JN
Choosing the right variety of mango
You will need a mango with a silky, sweet, bright orange flesh for this curry. Here in the United States I don't have a large variety to choose from so I just use the sweetest mango I can find, usually Ataulfo mango, which is also marketed as honey mango or champagne mango. Some Indian stores now stock alphonso mangoes in early summer. You can use frozen mangoes in this recipe.
Mango curry flavor
The mango brings a good deal of sweetness to the recipe, and the mustard seeds and red chili peppers add a hint of spice that works beautifully with the flavor of the mango. Coconut milk adds a different, milder sweetness and a silky texture to the curry.
Serve
Ladle this curry over plain, steamed basmati rice for a delicious, healthy meal. You can serve a vegetable sabzi on the side, like cauliflower sabzi or bhindi (okra) sabzi. If you are feeding this mango curry to children, serve it with a side of Bombay potatoes.
Store
Refrigerate the mango curry up to four days and freeze for up to three months. Thaw and reheat before serving.
Recipe card
Mango curry recipe
Ingredients
For the mango coconut sauce
- 5 ripe, sweet mangoes (cut out the pits and scoop out the flesh. Cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 15 oz full fat coconut milk (If you use fresh coconut milk, use two cups of the first extraction)
- 2 dry red chili peppers (like arbol or Kashmiri chillies)
Other ingredients
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing, optional)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons jaggery (or coconut sugar. You can also use plain granulated sugar)
- 1 cup water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Blend the mango coconut sauce
- Place the flesh of two mangoes (about 1 cup), coconut milk, red chili peppers and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Set aside.
Make mango curry
- Heat the oil over high heat and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds. When they sputter, add the curry leaves, turmeric and asafetida, if using.
- Add the blended coconut-mango sauce and the remaining mangoes, turmeric and jaggery or sugar to the pan. Stir in a cup of water. Add salt as needed.
- Heat the curry until the coconut milk just simmers, then turn off the heat. Serve the mango curry hot or warm.
Notes
- Use 16 oz frozen mango chunks or slices instead of fresh mangoes. You don't need to thaw them first but make sure the mangoes are thawed and warmed through after you add them to the curry and before you turn off heat.
- If the curry is too thick you can add more water to thin it out.
Nutrition Information
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More delicious mango recipes
- Savory, richly flavored vegan Jamaican mango stew.
- Easy mango chipotle glazed tofu makes a wonderful appetizer or finger food.
- For your sweet tooth, vegan mango cake.
- Delicious and refreshing vegan mango lassi.
First published March 26, 2018. Updated and republished on May 17, 2025.
Giulia says
I am learning how to cook indian dishes and this recipe is really tasty! I love it!
Thank you so much 🙂
Angelina says
Wow using mango as natural sweetener is brilliant! It's so simple yet so yummy! Thanks for sharing! =^.^=
Vaishali says
Thanks Angelina!
Marlis says
This recipe is great. We can't eat spicy food so I didn't use any chili peppers and we didn't have any curry leaves and I used a bit of curry powder instead. Turned out really well, thank so much!
Vaishali says
So happy you loved it!
Anita Sharma says
Hello, this looks amazing do the mangoes brown at all when you cook them. I have raw majors that are just about to ripen. I'm thinking of trying with a mixture of ripe and slightly raw.. so savory and sweet. I remember cooking with mango a while back and they turned brown while cooking, would love your thoughts.
Thanks!
Anita
Vaishali says
Hi Anita, I used champagne mangoes and they didn't brown. Not sure how other mangoes would do, but from what I remember when my mom made this, the mangoes didn't brown--she used some Indian variety that's very soft, not sure what it's called.
B S Ranganath says
I tasted mango curry only once in my lifetime when N S DESHIKACHAR offered it when I was a civil engineering student in Hassan city, Karnataka-India.
Going through recipe over here, I'm preparing to give it a try in our home kitchen today.