Kate: Tomatoes from our neighbour's allotment, ready to roast for lazy mid-week pasta.

Green mango chutney

Alison: It's often difficult for me to read food blogs without thinking of Jesse’s diet from The Fast Show. The idea of sharing what you are having for dinner (or tea if you are from Bolton as I am) with others, is strange in a way yet so many people do it. Living in Paris, I speak to my parents perhaps twice a week. 80% of our conversations is taken up by what we have been cooking over the past few days, or what my folks have been growing on their allotment. At the very least, this blog will serve to cut that part of the conversation in half and allow us to chat about other things (...wine for example!) So in Jesse style: This week I have been mostly eating…

GREEN MANGO CHUTNEY

The first time I tried green mango chutney was at my aunt and uncle's house in Bedford, a friend or a relative must have made some and brought it round. At the time, I thought it went very well with meat samosas: a combination of the sourness and fresh notes of the green mango with the savoury flavour of the salty, lightly spiced beef. Delicious... I kept thinking that I must make some - just as soon as I had learnt to make samosas !

I only bought green mangoes for the first time this year in Bolton. There is a new wholesaler off Deane Rd just out of the town centre, I went there with my Mum on a trip back home. When we got home, we made green mango chutney together, this week I made some more.

You can find green mangoes quite easily in Paris, I usually go to Passage Brady by Strasbourg St Denis. On Tuesday I went to the Indian quartier at La Chapelle. After asking various shop assistants in four different shops (who all informed me that they would have some tomorrow) I found some in the fifth shop. They were about 5 euros a kilo, I believe.

To prepare the mangoes : Peel them and cut the flesh off from around the stone. You may also include the skin in the recipe if you like to have a coarser texture. You do need to be aware though that there are apparently some people that are allergic to the peel of green mangoes.

The recipe :

• 6 green mangoes
• 1 finger of ginger
• 300g coconut milk
• 1 small green chilli
• Lime juice (to taste)
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh coriander

The method is easy : Either whizz all the ingredients together in a blender or grate them by hand for a coarser, more rustic chutney - this also depends on what you are serving it with. Only add the lime juice if the mangoes are not sour enough on their own. You may also want to add some fish sauce to give it a salty kick. My friend KK and her sister slice the green mangoes finely, and then dip them into thai shrimp paste as a snack.