Many Splendored Mango Chutney: Taste of the Caribbean
The relative distaste I’ve long held for the bounty of mango season has never diminished the love I have for a certain few delicacies derived from the Caribbean’s favorite fruit, chief among them: mango chutney.
Another tasty Caribbean culinary tradition borrowed from India by way of the British (get the full history lesson here), mango chutney has always made pholourie sing for me. Lately, though, I’ve gotten a bit more creative, adding a couple dollops to burritos, chicken or turkey sandwiches, rice and beans, even the occasional hamburger.
Chunkier chutneys like the one pictured above are especially good in wraps and burritos, the extra texture and spicy-sweet flavor infusing a real taste of the West Indies to most anything.
- 1 green mango peeled and cut in pieces
- 1/2 to 1 tsp hot fresh pepper
- 2 leaves of chadon beni
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 to 1 tsp vinegar
Whether you like mangoes or not is really immaterial when it comes to mango chutney as the stuff doesn’t taste at all like the ripened fruit so beloved by so many. Green “near-ripe” mangoes are employed instead, which when combined with vinegar, sugar and other ingredients, creates more of a tangy-sour aroma that, depending upon the level of hot spices involved, gets overrun on the tongue. It’s there in your mouth that the sweet-‘n-spicy combo takes over, rushing from the tip of your tongue to the corners of your mouth engendering a smile that is uniquely West Indian.
There are endless different varieties of, and recipes for mango chutney. This is the easier of two recipes featured in the one and only West Indian cookbook you may ever need…
Method:
Jam all your ingredients in an electric blender and process at puree for a few seconds. Serve as a dip for pholourie, barra, and saheena.
For the second recipe, and details on how to prepare more than 500 other traditional Caribbean dishes, order your copy of the Naparima Girls High School Cookbook here.
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