Green Mango and Coconut Chutney (Manga Chammandhi)


DSC_1130Green Mangoes! Just the thought of them makes my mouth water! In India, early in spring these green ones are so tart that a tiny bite makes your whole face pucker! Dip those tiny pieces in some salt and chili powder and you will keep wanting to take those bites again and again! My mom used to make this awesome chutney with green mangoes that would be the perfect condiment to plain rice and daal or moru kootan.  This past weekend was her passing away anniversary and so as I have been doing every year on this day since her passing, we went to the temple and then later I made a couple of her trademark simple dishes. This year I made  shrimp masala curry, lentils with coconut milk, mixed vegetable sabzi and this green chutney to eat with white parboiled rice. As we sat down to eat the meal, I shared stories from my childhood about how we three sisters used to love eating the green mangoes and this chutney.  The kids laughed probably just amused by thinking of me and their aunts in pigtails and frocks! My son loved the shrimp curry even though it was spicy and even my daughter finished everything on her plate yet my eyes were moist at the end of the meal. After my marriage I tried making this chutney many times but it didn’t come out right at all. It wasn’t like my mama’s chammandhi at all.! For one, the green mango I bought here in the US was not that tart at all and so consequently the proportion of mango to coconut that I used was all off. When my parents visited me for the first time here, my mom was still able to do her magic and get the same taste using the green mangoes we got here.! She just altered the proportion a bit to use more of the mango than the coconut and I was able to taste her finger licking, lip smacking mango chutney once again!

So here’s her recipe. I am bringing this to Fiesta Friday this week.


IMG_0146IMG_0147IMG_0148DSC_1133

(Visited 442 times, 1 visits today)
https://cook2nourish.com/aip-indian-fusion

Leave a comment

  1. […] So encouraged by that response I made beet idlis adding beet puree to the idli batter. As I placed them in the idli moulds, looking at the gorgeous pink color an idea struck me. V-day being just around the corner, why not make heart-shaped ones out of these cute little pink babies! So I used a cookie cutter to cut out a few heart shaped ones from the steamed idlis. It was a great idea – my daughter loved them! And the idlis tasted great. Served it with the usual accompaniments of sambhar and coconut chutney. […]

    • Sridevi, I am so impressed that you can satisfy your cravings by just looking at the pic! LOL! yeah the raw mangoes that we get here are not as tart as the ones back home but I have to make do with them! 🙂

  2. What a beautiful story behind this post Indu! Delicious dishes, along with this flavourful condiment, all made to honour and cherish the memory of your Mom. I’ve never tasted green mango before, but I’m determined to now try and find some come spring later this year! Thank you for sharing this!

    • thanks Margot for reading my story. And the green mangoes for this chutney should be the small ones which are really tart. Sometimes the ones we get here are slightly sweet too which also gives a nice chutney but I like the really tart chutney better 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.