Konkani Avanas Ambe Saasam / Coconut Fruit Salad

Sasam is an iconic Konkani delicacy. A friend of mine ate this Sasam at a Konkani wedding and asked for its recipe. So here it is.

A sweet and savory fruit salad with coconut and mustard seeds. Generally, this fruit salad is made with mango (Ambe), pineapple (Avanas) with a few grapes. This treat gets its name from mustard, which in Konkani is called as Sasam.

Ingredients:
Mango (chopped) - about 2 cups
Pineapple (chopped) - about 11/2 cups
Red Grapes (halved) - 1/2 cup
Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1 1/2 cups
Mustard Seeds/Saasam - 1/2 tsp
Dry Red Chilies (Byadagi variety) - 2 or 3
Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp
Jaggery/God/Gool (grated) - 3 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp

How to make Konkani Ambe Sasam:

• Peel the mango skin and dice the flesh into bite size pieces. Repeat the same for pineapple as well. Cut the grapes into halves. You can make this Sasam with just mango as well. I like adding grapes for a little more color. You can skip grapes.
• Grind grated coconut, mustard seeds, dry red chilies, turmeric, jaggery, little salt to a slightly coarse paste. Add water as little as possible. Taste this coconut dressing and add more jaggery, red chilies to suit your taste. If jaggery is not available, brown sugar works as a great substitute.
• To reduce the heat of red chilies, discard the seeds. I have used 3 Byadagi chilies which impart nice red color, but are mild.
• Mix fruits and ground coconut paste well. Refrigerate the Sasam so that it does not turn watery. If you are serving Avanas Ambe Saasam at room temperature, mix the fruits and coconut paste just before serving.
• Serve Sasam as a side dish with meals or as a chilled dessert. I like it chilled.