Fresh Mango Salsa – a lovely tropical summer accompaniment for nachos, pita crisps or even atop bruschetta
I’ve always been intrigued by mango salsa but, for the longest time, never actually tried it. Simply because I did not come across it. Being a bit unenthusiastic towards buying and eating mangoes in general (yes, I’m that crazy Indian), I didn’t really get around to trying it in my own kitchen either. But recently, we did a shoot for a nacho chips client and one of the shots involved having a wide range of dips to showcase, along with the chips. Mango salsa was one of the mandates. So like a good girl, I did image and stock photo searches for it to ensure I knew exactly what it generally looks like – at the end of which I was drooling! I wanted some right away.
I loved the idea of mixing up the sweet, salty and spicy flavours and could imagine the texture that the soft pulpy mango and the crunchy onions and peppers would bring together. Since the shoot, I made it a few times and now I’m happy with my recipe. I wanted to share it before the mango season is officially over!
(Aside: after the shoot, we literally had 2 cartons of chips left which the client wouldn’t take away. After 2 parties, chip-gifts and much unnecessary consumption, I finally used up the 2 last packets with this batch of salsa yesterday!! Phew!)
Here’s what I used for 1 large dip bowl (approx. for 4 people)
2 fresh, ripe mangoes ( I used langda, but you can use any firm, not-too-fibrous variety. All I can find here in Delhi right now is langda and chausa, which I prefer but would have been too pulpy for this)
1 small red bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1 large green chilli (the pickling variety — ideally we want jalapeños but since those are hard to find, I usually substitute them with the pickle/pakora large variety) — if you want more heat, use 2 regular Indian green chillies, with or without seeds as per your heat threshold.
Handful of chopped dhaniya (cilantro) — go crazy with this, the more the better
Juice of 1 lemon, approx 2 tbsp
Salt to taste — go easy here, the chips are usually pretty salty
Here’s how I made it:
Got my ingredients together.
Diced them up nice and small and dunked them all into a medium mixing bowl.
Added the salt, lemon juice and gave it a good mix let it sit for 5 minutes to let all the flavours meld. Served it with nacho chips on the side. Done and done. Easy, right?
Perfection. This is officially my favourite accompaniment to nachos. Even more than guac. Yes, I said that out aloud. I’m sorry!
Go on. Try it. Before there aren’t any more mangoes to be found this year.