Monday, August 05, 2013

Aambe Saat(Maambala) - Poor Man's Rich Candy

Aambe Saat, Aam Saat, Maambala, Maamidi Tandra or Mango Jelly; call it any name you want. This is a sweet and sour energising dried Mango candy like delicacy available almost round the year.

During our childhood days, Aambe Saat used to come from local villages where they process mango pulp, spread it on palm leaf mats(Maandri) and dry in the hot summer sun in layers, roll them and sell in the market. Its cousin Pansaat or Jack Fruit Jelly was also available. These were poor man's Candies and were mostly relished suring the monsoon season in every house hold.


Now a days, undivided State of Andhra Pradesh produces excellent Aambe Saat which is inexpensive and can be preserved for a long time. I remember my friends from Hyderabad and Vijayawada getting this for me every year. It used to cost around Rs.150/- per kilo in the high season as far as I remember. According to sources, Maamidi Tandra is mainly made in Atryapuram village in Rajahmundry in traditional way with over ripe Totapuri mangoes.

This is a sample pic of Aambe Saat or Maamidi Tandra which I acquired a few years ago. The first look at the delicacy may remind one of any exotic sweet! Maamidi Tandra is much in demand and is exported to many countries today. Hence, the name poor man's candy is obsolete today, but the nostalgia that goes with it made me tag it thus!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Karkala is the place where you can get all this.

Rajanikanth Shenoy, Kudpi said...

OK. At least during my younger days we used to get this from Karkala. Now the Andhra stuff is better and affordable compared to local stuff.

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