We purchased roughly 30 kilos, yes, that reads thirty kilos of “Indian mangoes†on the roadside in Batangas, a couple of weeks ago. It was the height of the harvest for these smaller and 
less tart mangoes that I once saw my sister turn into terrific mango chutney that we enjoyed for months afterwards. After distributing about 20 kilos of the mangoes to friends, neighbors and staff, we still had roughly 10 kilos leftover and I waited for them to ripen a bit more. Then I experimented for the first time ever with my own mango chutney… This is an easy and delicious way to use mangoes when they are plentiful. And considering our propensity as a nation for sweeter tastes, I am surprised we don’t use chutneys more often…
Start off by peeling and cutting the mangoes into about ¾ inch or smaller cubes or pieces. You need not be anal about the cuts, this is a “rustic†condiment. It is best to have a 
mixture of tarter, less ripe mangoes and some ripe-ish ones. I used about 5 kilos worth of mangoes before peeling which must have been about 2 kilos or less peeled. Next I added dark muscovado sugar, apple cider vinegar, some chopped onions, garlic, de-seeded and chopped chilli, large chunks of ginger, and some freshly ground nutmeg and curry powder. Cook over medium to medium low heat and stir occasionally. After cooking for 20-30 minutes, I added some golden raisins that I happened to have in the fridge. The whole house will reek of vinegar and spices. I happen to like the smell, others don’t. After another 15 minutes or so, I took these off the heat, ladled into sterilized jars and stored it in the fridge. After a week of “mellowing†out, I had some with shrimp curry and I thought it was a 7.0 to 7.5 out of 10.
Perhaps it needed more mellowing. Perhaps using Bragg’s organic cider vinegar was just too strong. It was good, but it wasn’t great. That’s why I haven’t put my proportions down yet because I need to tweak this recipe some more. At any rate, the sweetness, tartness, chewiness of it all screamed curry so that’s the main reason we made a shrimp curry one evening. But the chutney is good in sandwiches, with grilled chicken and other meats…so versatile and packs so much flavor! When I get it right or better than this first attempt, I will post the recipe!
13 Responses
Mango chutney is great with grilled pork or confit pork with the addition of fresh chopped pineapple and cilantro. I totally agree with you superb in sandwiches and I can totally omit the mayonnaise. We eat Indian mangoes variety in their green stage only. Once they ripened they come up with this funny taste – an aftertaste which lingers in your mouth and I find it very unpleasant. The combination of piko and kinalabaw mango varieties in their almost near the ripening stage and early ripened stage are great for chutney.
I love chutneys! They are not only great with curries, but also with cheese (great appetizer this!), or in a cold sandwich (like leftover roast chicken sandwich, or cold ham sandwich). I’m also surprised we don’t eat it with more (since we like sweet things as you mentioned), like the British do. I haven’t tried mango yet, but I have made a apple chutney which I love — I use a combination of vinegars (because I didn’t have the whole amount of cider vinegar called for in the recipe) — red wine vinegar and champagne vinegar, and it came out great :) I will wait for your final recipe post for this mango chutney before trying…thanks MM!
One possible reason mango chutney has slipped our attention inspite of the abundance of mangos is Filipinos tend to be light handed with spicy heat so there really are very few dishes that need foiling with tart-sweet condiments. Even our Kari-kari which is the one dish that’s closest (specially in name) to the Indian dish is chased with pungent-salty bagoong alamang instead.
we also will have an onslaught of indian mango harvest soon and so it is quite timely of you MM to come up with a mango chutney recipe. My husband asked immediately if it is going to be sweet like jam. He has never tasted chutney obviously. He also makes indian mango jam but mixes it with carabao mango for that added tarty accent. But then both of us began to get excited about the idea of experimenting with chutneys as well. When everything goes as we’d think as good, I will share our findings with you. I will also take the tips of Maria Clara into heart. Thanks!
Ditto with Apicio on the foiling.
Perhaps your chutney needs merely to sit for a bit to let the flavors settle in.
had a party recently … served mango chutney on slices of brioche with some cheddar cheese, yum! yum! they tend to be so popular with friends. and it’s excellent for packed lunches, too.
i just saw an episode of barefoot contessa the other day and she made palaman mango chutney and a slice of cheddar into a brioche bun.
The best mango chutney I enjoyed so much is the one from Trinidad and Tobago. They ferment the raw mango chunks with curry, chilli and some other ingredients but no sugar. I always ask my friends from Trinidad and Tobago to bring me bottles of their mango chutney and bring it home to the Philippines.
How interesting. Th mango chutney that my grandma used to make used those green mangoes stored for a couple of weeks in a boiled solution of apple cider vinegar, sugar and spices. Now that I think about it, i guess it’s more like a mango atchara.
try it with adobo, yummy! also, i put some cardammon and a cinnamon stick in mine.
I think a missing ingredient is tamarind paste.
I love this web site; I find my mouth watering while reading the articles and seeing the beautiful pictures. Keep it up.
Hi Marketman!
I don’t know who to ask..but would you know where I can buy tahini here in Manila????
Monica, they sell tahini or sesame seed paste in little tubs at Santis delicatessen, the larger branches. I have purchased it at Rockwell and Yakal street branches.