How to make mango chutney

Why green mango

An unripe mango is firm, sour and starchy rather than sweet, and it holds its shape through a long cook where ripe fruit collapses to purée. It also brings its own acidity, which means less vinegar is needed.

Green mangoes are grown and sold specifically for this in South Asia and are available at Asian greengrocers in Britain. They are not simply unripe eating mangoes, though a hard shop mango works reasonably well as a substitute.

The British shop version uses ripe fruit and a great deal of sugar, which gives the familiar sweet golden preserve. It is pleasant and it is a different food.

The method

Chunky, hot and sharp. FoodHQ does not publish keeping times, acidity figures or jar-processing schedules. In the UK the Food Standards Agency is the authority on whether and how a sealed preserve is safe to store — follow its guidance on sterilising, sealing and storing.

1. Peel the green mangoes and cut the flesh off the stone in chunks. It is hard and starchy — a firm knife and a stable board.
2. Salt the chunks and leave them for an hour or two, then drain. This firms them and draws out water.
3. Warm oil in a heavy pan and fry whole spices — mustard seed, cumin, fenugreek, dried chilli — until they pop and smell.
4. Add grated ginger, sliced garlic and chopped chilli and cook briefly.
5. Add the mango, vinegar, sugar, salt, ground turmeric and any other ground spice.
6. Simmer uncovered for around an hour, stirring more often as it thickens, until the channel test passes and the fruit is translucent but still in pieces.
7. Pot into hot sterilised jars with vinegar-proof lids. A chutney tastes raw and vinegary when it is first potted and mellows considerably over weeks. Judging it on the day you make it is the commonest reason people conclude they do not like their own chutney.

Variations across India and beyond

• Aam ka chunda, a Gujarati sweet-sour chutney of grated raw mango, sugar and chilli, traditionally sun-cured.
• Kasundi, a Bengali mustard-heavy relish, fierce and pungent.
• Aam ka achar, mango pickle rather than chutney — salted, spiced and preserved in oil, and a different preparation.
• Major Grey style, the British-Indian sweet version with raisins and ginger, made from ripe fruit.
• With nigella seed, which is a common and excellent addition.
• With jaggery instead of sugar, which gives a deeper, more caramel flavour.
• A quick fresh mango chutney, uncooked, with lime, chilli and coriander — not a preserve, and very good.

Notes

Where to buy green mangoes

Asian greengrocers, usually cheap and sold in quantity in early summer.

Substitute

A very hard supermarket mango. Not as sour, so use less sugar and a little more vinegar.

Vinegar

White or cider vinegar suits mango. Malt is too assertive.

Spices

Toast and fry whole spices in oil first. Adding ground spice to the pot without frying gives a dusty, flat result.

Texture

Chunky is correct. Purée belongs to the commercial version.

Common questions