Lord Mayor’s Mango Chutney

Over the next week or so election fever will hit many of us like a less lethal but possibly more pervasive version of the ‘rona.  After all, the fate of many will ride on the outcome of this highly important and contentious race.  I am, of course talking about our local Moonee Valley council elections!  And yes, of course, there is another far more important election happening shortly.  But today, we are keeping it local and going exotic with a recipe for the Lord Mayor’s Mango Chutney!

The recipe comes from the June 1991 issue of Vogue Entertaining Australia.  It  features in an article called “Banquet by The Billabong”  which is all about posh dining outside

What that glamourous description doesn’t tell you is that the calls of the river life probably include crocodiles that will kill you quicker than you can blink and mosquitos carrying dengue fever, Ross River virus and Murray Valley Encephalitis .  Then there’s the venomous snakes and the poisonous spiders and the drop bears.  And the occasional serial killer to boot.  That rustle of linen could well be the noose around your neck and the chink of silver the knife about to slit your throat!.

Come on, it’s Hallowe’en!  if we’re not going to get dark at this time of year when are we????

Something a lot less Wolf Creeky is this recipe for Mango Chutney which comes from  Alex Fong Lim who was Lord Mayor of Darwin from 1984-1990. This is a fabulous recipe too.  I don’t like a lot of commercial mango chutneys because I find them too sweet.  This however, has the perfect blend of sweet and spice and heat.  And it is so pretty as well!  The chunks of mango become almost translucent as they cook so they look like gorgeous bright jewels.  This is the perfect accompaniment to a curry – the picture directly below had it paired beautifully with Nick Sharma’s Chicken Biryani Tagine and the one below that has it matched up with a Sri Lankan chicken curry badun.

Lord Mayor’s Chutney – The Recipe

You can, of course, adjust the amount of chilli to suit your taste.   I only used 500g of mango and 2 birdseye chillies in my chutney. I also used fresh grated ginger and sultanas because I can’t abide raisins.  Most importantly for those of you who cannot get ripe or under-ripe mangoes, or it is not mango season even if you can, I used a packet of chopped frozen mango for my chutney and I was very happy with the results!

I’m not entirely sure about what the other duties of a Lord Mayor are.  I guess they are boss of the council?  But if the quality of this recipe is anything to go by, then maybe part of their job description needs to be that they all have to share a recipe with their constituents!

I’d vote for that!

Have a great week!