Having got the garden produce under control for the moment, I still had a hankering to make more things for the store cupboard. On a quick trip to my local supermarket, I found large unripe mangoes on sale at a bargain price, so picked up a box full. I left them near the kitchen window for a couple of days to soften slightly, then got busy.
For those of you who don’t know, the mango is a fruit native to the Indian subcontinent. The trees can grow to 40 metres high and continue cropping for over 300 years. As if that wasn’t remarkable enough, it’s also now sometimes called a ‘superfruit’, as it is high in both prebiotic fibre and a number of minerals, nutrients and antioxidants.
However, its main attraction for me is that it makes a wonderful chutney. Mangoes can be slightly troublesome to prepare, as they have a large and very hard stone; deliaonline has a photo guide and all I’d add is that for pickle making, waste nothing ! When you’ve removed the skin, scoop any remaining flesh off with a spoon, make sure not to lose any juice, and trim closely round the stone to get every possible bit of flesh.
This recipe will give you a wonderful chutney, particularly good with some hot roast pork in a bun or bagel. It’s quite different to the big brand name chutney you might find in the shops – packed with fruit, more texture, and fragrant with spices rather than either sugary or searingly hot.
David’s Mango Chutney
1.5kg firm mangoes, peeled and diced
4 long red chillies, deseeded and chopped
110g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
juice and zest of 1 lemon
250ml white malt vinegar
2 tsp ground cumin
15g salt
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp kalonji (black Nigella seeds)
Seeds of 12 green cardamoms
750g brown sugar
Place everything but the sugar in a heavy saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Cook for 45-60 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Add the sugar, cook again until the temperature crosses 101ºC and the mixture has begun to thicken again.
Meanwhile, make sure your jam jars are washed and clean, and sterilise them by putting them in an oven at 140C for at least 10 minutes. Then fill your jars with the hot chutney and screw the lids on immediately. Fill to high in the neck of the jar, leaving little airspace, and make sure you protect your hands from the hot jars and chutney by handling with a good dry tea towel.
This chutney has no obvious connection with the 1954 Sidney Poitier film about the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters
