Storms and Mango trees don’t get along very well. Yesterday a high wind and rain storm hit Maui and knocked a bunch of our mangoes out of the tree. What do you do with so many fallen green mangoes? Of course! You make Spicy Pickled Mango with Haiku grown Ghost Peppers (Bhut Jolokia).

Yeild: 8 full 1 Pint/16oz Wide Mouth Mason Jars

Recipe:

10lbs peeled and chopped green mango

6 cups sugar

2 – 3 Ghost Peppers Per Jar ( or any pepper you might have, Hawaiian Chili Pepper is another favorite around here )

3 cup apple cider vinegar ( you can use any vinegar you prefer )

3/4 cup Hawaii Salt

Instructions:

Day 1: Clean and peel green mangoes. To make the peeling go fast use a sharp potato peeler and take long strokes across the mango skin. Cut the sides of mango from the seed and chop to your desired size. Slice as much away from the seed. You can split the seed and pickle that too but I prefer not to when we have a bunch to do and it takes up space in the jars.

In a large bowl, salt all of our mango heavily and leave overnight. You can skip this part if you want but I feel it makes a better pickle when the moisture is taken out of the mango.

Day 2: Rinse all of your mango thoroughly and taste a piece making sure it’s no longer salty, drain and set aside. Sanitize all your jars and lids with hot water. In a large pot, mix your sugar, vinegar and salt until dissolved and boiling. Pack your jars with a bit of mango, drop your peppers in, pack the jar the rest of the way full, till it’s tight. Pour the hot pickling brine until it’s about 1/4″ from the top of the Mason Jar. Cap, seal and invert for 15 minutes. At this point you can let cool and put them in the refrigerator or finish canning them in a boiler. I personally just refrigerate them.

Let them sit for at least a week before eating them. The longer you let them sit the spicier they’ll get.