So what if it is hot and humid during the summer, it is also the season for the luscious mango. Mango lovers find varied ways of relishing the fruit in all its forms — raw or ripe. When smoothies, aam ras, lassi, and mango cheesecake are passe, try cooking with ripe mangoes.
Did you know that you could make curries with even ripe or not-so-sweet ripe mango? No, we are not talking about ripe mango with curd rice. A sweetish mango when combined with ingredients such as green chillies, chives, shallots etc goes on to become a flavourful dish. The Mangalorean style ambe upkari is a spicy, tangy, ripe mango-based sweet curry that is served as a side with a thali.
Chef Yogendra Pal of Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty says their restaurant serves a fish curry made with ripe mango. He explains, “The best mangoes for the Angamali meen manga curry is the semi-ripe mango that is not too sweet. A lot of roasted green chillies and shallots go into making the masala base for the gravy. The mango can be made into a fine puree or left in chunks. It is added towards the end. The curry tastes amazing with rice and is a favourite at our hotel.”
Chef Yogendra suggests that the key lies in pairing ripe mango with anything that has a neutral taste. Perhaps that is why recipes of mango-based salads often have avocado, cucumber and steamed broccoli.
A little scrolling shows recipes with ripe mango in many avatars. It has been paired with chickpeas, broccoli, coconut milk, cauliflower and what not. Mango as salsa is another favourite.
There is no denying that a mango dessert is always a winner. And nothing can beat or match a mango-based smoothie. Chef Radhika Khandelwal of Maple&Fig says, “Mango is called the king of fruits for a good reason. It is a versatile fruit and can be enjoyed in a smoothie or paired with dishes such as pancakes and cheesecakes. But my favourite method is to use it in a chicken curry or as mango butter, stuffed in a taco. It can also be added to a salad or grain bowl, or in a salsa with a grilled fish. I feel there are endless ways to soak up this delicious fruit. The trick to adding mango in a dish is to balance the sweetness with sour and hot elements.”
A special menu at her restaurants — Fig & Maple Goa and Fig & Maple Delhi — celebrates the mango season with a raw mango salad, red snapper with mango cilantro salsa, black sesame mango noodles, jamun and mango salad and mango chicken. Radhika says that three mango trees at her home have started fruiting. “Now we can use the fruit from the tree in our dishes,” she says.
According to Agri news India is home to over 1,000 varieties of mangoes. So chefs are selective about the variety of mango they use to cook. Bangalore-based chef Mandaar Sukhtankar is not in favour of cooking mango varieties that are fibrous and juicy. According to him varities like Banganapalle and Alphonso are best enjoyed as fruit. He says, “Seafood and mango make for a wonderful combination. Always pick the right accentuating elements such as spices (fresh red or green chillies), and crunch elements (diced red onion) when cooking with mango. The other balancing element would be a dash of lemon, if the mango is extremely sweet.”
Some of Radhika’s favourites to pair with mango are avocado, coriander, chilli, curry leaf, pepper, jamun, bimbli, coconut, tahini and miso. She adds, “Mango can add depth and layers to a dish!” Last year, she had done a series on mango recipes to help people understand how mango can be used in savoury dishes, the most popular amongst those was the ‘burnt garlic mango chilli butter.’
Burnt garlic mango butter recipe
Dietary preference: not for vegans
Serves: 4
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty level: easy
Type: dip
Recipe by Chef Radhika Khandelwa l
Ingredients
80 grams: Butter
1/2 cup: Mango chopped fine
Six pods: Garlic, chopped
2 sprigs: Curry leaves:
1 teaspoon: Chilli flakes:
Method
In a bowl assemble the chopped mango, chopped garlic, curry leaves and chilli flakes. Place the bowl over a bed of ice. Heat butter in a pan till it browns. Pour sizzling hot butter into the bowl with all the ingredients and start whipping it until until you get soft butter.
