Recipe for Raw Mango Chutney made with green mangoes, coriander and mint | Green Mango recipes | Kairi Chutney

Some of the best raw mangoes I have tasted came from a farm in Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) when we were living in Hyderabad. We were supposed to wait for the Banganapalli mangoes to ripen into juicy fruit – but they were so incredibly good in their raw form that neither of us could wait. These raw mangoes had a tinge of sweetness, a sort of sneak-peek into the ripened fruit.

How wonderful it is to be able to use the tart, palate tickling freshness of raw mangoes in our dishes, while the season lasts? In my opinion, it is the best way to bide time until the mango season graces us with its presence.

My favourite ways to eat raw mango are in a molaga-manga, a simple raw mango pickle made in Tamil Brahmin homes (and possibly other South Indian homes too). For the longest time, this was the only pickle I would eat.

Raw mango features in the special South Indian New Year preparation called Ugadi Pachadi, where it is mixed along with neem flowers, jaggery, tamarind and coconut. This amalgam of sweet, sour, bitter and pungent flavours, has a deeper significance, a sort of reminder, at the beginning of each year, that life is a mix of all kinds of experiences.

Then of course there is the Vietnamese green mango salad, which is all kinds of delicious.

Gujaratis make an excellent raw mango preserve called Chundo, where they allow the sun to do its work on a big vessel of grated raw mango and sugar for 2-3 weeks. In this period, the sugar melts and the raw mango gradually cooks to make a sweet jammy condiment had with theplas or even dal and rice.

Here is my recipe for a simple raw mango green chutney. Regular green chutney gets its mild tartness from lemons. The acidity from the lemons also keeps the chutney green for a week. Here, instead of lemons, raw mangoes give the chutney the delicious tart flavour. This chutney is an excellent accompaniment to parathas. It also makes a real good Bombay style chutney sandwich. See the end of the post for a sandwich recipe.