Mango and Tomato Curry

I got this recipe from Vig's Indian Cuisine, by Vikram Vij. He has a restaurant in Vancouver, BC. I have been to BC, but I never had the chance to stop by his restaurant. What a shame! Judging from the recipes that I have cooked from his book, it must be a very wonderful place to have a meal. Check out his restaurant in BC here.

This is a wonderful and delicious recipe of curry and tomatoes and is perfect for summer! I have been to India several times, but I have never seen a recipe like this. It is simply wonderful. The masala for this dish can also be used in a variety of other Indian curries, as it makes a good base sauce.

It really helps to have fresh curry leaves for this dish. I searched long and hard for fresh curry leaves. Most Indian stores here in the Bay area have curry leaves in small plastic packs. They are fairly fresh, and work. I never realized how wonderfully different this dish tastes with fresh curry leaves! I was at a Indian grocery store in Dublin that I usually frequent, and they had the curry plant! I was so excited. Fresh curry leaves are very potent and give a very different taste to this dish.

Fresh ripe mangoes are also very important to this dish. I prefer alphonso mangoes, from southern India. They are much sweeter and juicer than other mangoes. You can tell when a mango is ripe and ready to eat by its smell. Its skin should be yellowish red, and smell very sweet. You can also make this dish with green, raw mangoes and it will yield a more tangy flavor.

Cutting a mango can be a messy adventure. When I was going to grad school in Hawaii, one of my cousins taught me how to cut a mango "island style". Cut the mango around the stone in the center. This leaves you with 2 mango halves and a stone surrounded with the mango fruit. Take one of those halves. Take a sharp pairing knife and cut deeply into the flesh of the mango, scoring it horizontally and vertically. Then, push the mango from the skin, "popping" it inside out. The mango should come off the skin, nicely diced. Repeat with the other half. Take the remainder of the mango (the stone surrounded in flesh) and make an incision into the mango, letting the knife follow the contours of the stone. This will allow the rest of the flesh of the mango to "roll off" the stone and can then be easily cut up.



This is a classic Indian dish, where oil is flavored with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Tomatoes and spices are added to create a "masala", the flavor component of the dish. This is a useful masala to make and can be used in lots of dishes. Mangoes are then added as the vegetable portion of the dish and to add some bulk to the dish. I have also added chicken to this dish and it works wonderful as well.

Ingredients
1/3 cup canola oil or ghee
1 Tablespoon black mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
30-40 curry leaves, fresh or frozen
2 cups chopped tomatoes, with seeds (about 2 large tomatoes)
1 tsp tumeric
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt
3 medium to large mangoes, peeled and cubed (preferably alphonso)
2 cups chopped green onions (white and green parts) (for garnish, extra)

Making the Masala
Add a swig of oil to a wok and roll the wok around, coating the wok thinly and evenly with the oil. Heat the oil for 1 minute on medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cook until the seeds begin to pop. Immediately add asafoeetida and curry leaves. Watch you head and hands, as some oil might splash on you. Give the mixture a stir. The curry leaves should shrivel up. Reduce heat to low. Add the tomatoes, tumeric, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir fry this for about 5 minutes.

Add in the mangoes and give them a good stir, making sure they are fairly evenly incorporated into the dish. Cover and increase heat.  After 5 minutes, give them a good stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. The mangoes should begin to "sweat", and some of their juices are released. If you want to add green onion at this point, stir the green onion in and cook, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes.







At this point, you can serve this dish with rice and or chappati.

If you want to make it non veg, you can also add chicken to this dish and cook on low heat for another 10 minutes, or until the chicken has turned white and cooked through. If you choose to add chicken, you need to marinate the chicken for 30 minutes in the following:

1 lbs boneless, skinless free range chicken breast, cubed
1 tablespoon vodka or dry vermouth
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

The oil allows the chicken to separate easily in cooking.

I serve this with either rice and lemon pickle or with chappati.


Enjoy!!!

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