Mango and Chili Sauce
I am impatiently waiting for the peak preserving season which starts some time next month. In the meantime, since mangoes seem to be already in season in many parts of the world, last weekend I was very glad to be able to fill this year’s first jars with my beloved hot mango sauce. I have posted this recipe a long time ago, when I didn’t know most of my present web friends and I thought it would be such a pity if one of my most often prepared and served sauces remained forgotten or unnoticed. For me it’s such an extraordinary preserve, I think it may even merit to be posted regularly once a year.
Why do I find this sauce so exceptional? First of all, because I love mango and chili combination. Secondly, because of its simplicity. In fact, I haven’t followed any precise instructions and the recipe is the result of my experiments with chili, mango and obligatory preserving agents (vinegar and sugar). Thanks to the short ingredients list, this sauce is an extremely versatile seasoning or dip. You can serve it with roasts, stir fries, sandwiches, noodles, rice bowls,snacks…. Apart from those who hate hot and sweet combination, everyone seems to enjoy this sauce (this is one of my biggest “jar as a present” hits). Last but not least, mango season is quite long and since they are imported from different parts of the world they are available (at least in Europe) all year round, so this sauce can be prepared at practically any time of the year.
If you still hesitate wondering how you will use this sauce, here are some suggestions:
-Stir-fried asparagus, chicken and cashew nuts
-Japanese Chicken and Leek Skewers (Negima)
-Asparagus Teriyaki Pork Rolls
-Sesame Coated Chicken Nuggets
TIPS: The vinegar and sugar amounts depend on the mango sweetness and the ones below are only an example. Some mangoes require more sugar and some more vinegar. Always put down the exact amounts so that you know what you should modify next time you preserve it.
The hotness of this sauce should be adapted to your own preferences and your resistance. The below chili amounts are only an example and depend also on the chili variety. Several tips for those who are not used to handle hot peppers:
1-Wear gloves while washing or cutting them !
2- Add your peppers gradually. They vary a lot in size, in hotness, and even the same variety can be completely different depending on the season and country of origin. I always first mix peppers in a food processor and then add them gradually until the sauce acquires the desired taste.
3-Do not throw away the seeds if you want the sauce to be even hotter! (they are the hottest part of the peppers).
4- Keep in mind that the warm sauce is always hotter in taste than the cold one… (Wait for the sauce to cool down, taste it and you can reheat it once more adding more chilies if you want).
Preparation: around 30 minutes + a couple of hours for cooling + 20 minutes for processing
Ingredients: (2 mangoes will yield around 3-4 200ml jars, but it depends on the fruits’ juiciness and ripeness)
2 mangoes
1 T salt
200 g (1 cup) sugar
200 ml (6 3/4 oz) white wine or cider vinegar (mine was 4,5% acid)
preferably fresh, red or green hot peppers (I put 3 flat tablespoons of mixed tiny “bird’s eye” chili peppers and my sauce was really hot)
Cut off the peppers’ stems. Cut in half lengthwise and throw away the seeds (or not! if you want your sauce extra hot).
Mix the peppers in a food processor. Put aside.
Peel the mangoes, cut up the flesh. Mix the mangoes in a food processor.
Place the mixed mangoes, the sugar, the salt and the vinegar in a heavy bottom pan (shouldn’t be aluminium or copper, otherwise the vinegar will react with the metal).
Add the chilies gradually (for example starting with half of the amount). Cook for around 30 minutes. Taste and, optionally, add sugar /vinegar/peppers to adjust the taste.
/At this point you can (after the sauce has cooled down) either freeze it, or keep it in the fridge for a couple of weeks, or process it in the jars, as described below, and store it in your pantry for at least a year!/
Pour the sauce, still hot, into sterilised jars. Cover with lids. Leave the jars to cool.
Place the cool jars into a big pan, bottom lined with an old kitchen towel folded in two (this will prevent the jars from breaking), cover up with hot – but not boiling- water to the level just below the lid. Bring to boil and keep on a very low heat, in simmering water, for around 20 minutes.
Stick on self-adhesive labels, write the name of the sauce and don’t forget to mark the date (do not forget to put down the exact amounts of every ingredient you used).
In a dry place, with a moderate temperature, the jars should keep for at least a year.
You must be so proud of your little jars of preserves if they’re all as attractive as this gleaming little golden jewel. I’d love to be able to sample all the dishes the sauce would go on as well. 🙂
Thank you so much, A_Boleyn. You are welcome whenever you wish! I’m not really proud, but happy to make my jars the way my mum and grandmother used to (although most of my preserves are completely different!). It’s such a pity less and less people preserve food nowadays… Some preserves look more attractive, like this sunny yellow mango sauce, but some ugly ones can be surprisingly good too 😉
I was just picturing my own feelings looking at these jars sitting on the counter or a shelf in a brightly lit kitchen after having just finished canning them. I would feel a definite sense of pride in my accomplishment.
Recently I canned for the first time. I made 3 1 cup jars of mixed citrus curd. It doesn’t seem that momentous bu I just couldn’t stop looking at them and smiling. Perhaps after having done so many over the years that sense of accomplishment isn’t quite that strong for you any more which is a shame.
Also, I’m sure some preserves aren’t particularly stunning but still, you’ve done something to feed/nurture your family and it’s a lot more effort than simply going to the store and buying a jar of something.
I think I have misunderstood you. I wanted to say that the sole fact of preserving food doesn’t make me proud because I have never considered it as something particularly difficult or extraordinary. I must admit that the first jars I made many years ago made me probably proud because it was new, but it has become as obvious as it has always been for my mum I suppose.
On the other hand, I am proud of some recipes which I have invented (like this one or the tomato chutney with nigella seeds http://www.withaglass.com/?p=5949) or of some rare finds, original combinations… and of course I’m proud when people compliment me on some jars. (Although my personal favourites are not always the biggest crowd-pleasers).
As for the reasons why I make preserves, the first one is probably its magic side: one never knows how it will taste in a year or two years’ time, especially in savoury preserves. The second one is to have something I cannot buy anywhere (or adapt for example the sweetness to my preferences) I must also confess I got a bit addicted to preserving 😉 It’s like cooking in advance, but “in advance” here means sometimes 5 or 6 years. (I have recently opened a jar of 6 year old sour cherry jam and it was extraordinary!). I also love offering my own jars to friends and family. It’s a bigger pleasure than baking a cake for them or buying something.
Chili and mango is a unique but obviously working combination – this sauce would be delicious with some Thai 😀
Thanks and bookmarked!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you, Choc Chip Uru. You are right, is goes well with Thai food too.
Hi Sissi,
Oh my goodness-that sounds a marriage made in heaven! I will definitely be making this-thank you so much for the recipe!!
Thank you so much, Green Dragonette. I hope you make it. It is really extremely easy and always works (at worst it will be too hot/not enough hot, maybe too sweet… but definitely good and the second batch will probably be perfect).
Mangoes do so well in a sweet sour combo. One of my favourite Indian pickle is made with green mango. Your mango sauce looks so beautiful; gorgeous jewel colour.
Thank you so much, Nazneen. I adoooore the Indian green mango chutney, but green mangoes are difficult to get here and frankly I wouldn’t even know how to choose the good ones. Every year I promise myself to try experimenting with green mango because I keep on buying it from a certain famous British brand and finish the jars in no time at all 😉
Looks beautiful! Could you drizzle this on some fresh picked greens?
Thank you, Tessa. I think you could drizzle it on anything!
I too love the combo of the sweet mango and chilies, I am going to try my hand at this sauce. We made one last year with papaya that was similar http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/chef-roger-mookings-chicken-with-papaya-bbq-sauce/.
Did you know that the mango peel contain urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy and poison sumac! They say you should not suck on the stone as it has it as well.
Thank you so much, Eva. I will go and see your papaya sauce. It sounds very intriguing (I have never made anything with papaya). I had no idea about the poison. I am wondering now… I think that Indian green mango chutneys contain skin! (Maybe when they are unripe they are not poisonous? Or maybe the poison disappears in the processing?).
What a happy coincidence. I have had mango on the mind non-stop these past few days… I made a recipe with them this past weekend and am planning another shortly… so delicious and refreshing this time of year! But what I especially love about your preserve is the addition of chili – how great is that?! Did you find the flavour of the chili really coming through Sissi? Such a great combination with the mango. I also appreciate the simplicity of this recipe – my husband would love this on his morning toast at the cottage 🙂 – what a lovely treat.
Thank you so much, Kelly. For me mango and chili are the obligatory combination (other spices, herbs etc. are possible, but without chili mango doesn’t exist for me in savoury dishes). The mango aroma and flavours are so strong, even the super hot versions I make are great (of course as long as one is used to lots of chili because some say their palate is paralysed at a certain point).
I’ve never been a huge fan of fresh mangoes Sissi, but I think I could really enjoy this recipe and so would my wife. Bookmarked to try.
Hope you’ve been well while I’ve been gone. Cheers!
Hi, Jed. So nice to see you back. I am not a huge fan of mangoes alone or in sweet dishes, but I love them with chili in savoury dishes, so I can totally understand.
Oh my, this sounds delicious!! I love mangoes and could eat them every single day. You’d have to remove a wall to get me out of the house if I did!
Thank you so much, Maureen. I love mangoes mainly in savoury dishes and with a big amount of chili, so I think I have lower limits.
I see that Eva is going to make this, so I need to time a visit appropriately as I’d love to try this. (I didn’t know that the poison either. Yikes!) Sounds like a terrific combination — mangoes and chili!
Thank you so much, Barb. It’s so funny we both have almost the same colours in our posts today! (I still cannot forget your wonderful sandwiches with melted cheese…).
So nice the combination of mango and chili, I can only imagine the flavor…and the color of this sauce is awesome.
Thanks for the recipe and hope you have a great week ahead Sissi 🙂
Thank you so much, Juliana. I hope you have a lovely week too.
Preserving jars are so expensive here, so I like how your recipe yields only a small amount. I’m used to Mum pickling 20 kilos of capsicum at a time! Do you think the sauce could be frozen in small batches instead?
Hi, Martyna. I haven’t bought empty jars for many years now (they are expensive everywhere I think, here too at least). I bought some only at the beginning of my preserving “career” 😉 . I keep the ones I buy filled with food (olives, capers, sauces, mayonnaise, etc.), wash them and recycle them. I also ask my family and friends to bring me jars (I only check the lids don’t have rust inside). Everyone I know who preserves regularly, recycles jars just like me. I have no idea how this sauce would freeze. I have never tried. I’m sure it will keep in the fridge for quite a long time (even my opened preserved ones keep in the fridge for many weeks).
What a beautiful summery sauce! I make my own preserves too! Homemade can not compare to store bought.
Thank you, Katerina. I hope I can see soon what the Greek preserves look like!
Hi Sissi, this looks so smooth and rich – did you post something similar last year? Maybe with apricots? I can’t remember… you post such a bewildering array of fantastic looking preserves that it’s hard to keep up with you. It puts my couple of jars to shame! I’ve actually been wanting to preserve something again for a long time. Like you, I’m really looking forward to the preserving season… all the wonderful fruits available! I can’t wait 😀
Thank you so much, Charles. You have a good memory! I make hot apricot sauce too (actually two or three different apricot sauces I think). Good luck with preserving!
Nice sauce, Sissi! 🙂
Thank you, Giulia.
Hmm, mango and chili! I do have to wear gloves too. I cut without them before and oh my gosh my hands were burning like crazy! I think I’m very sensitive to chilis…which is why my tummy can’t handle the spice. This is a beautiful sauce. With a little bit of chili, I think it gives a great kick to this sauce.
Thank you so much, Nami. I also have to wear gloves, so I think we are all sensitive to chili (because I love very hot food, but my skin doesn’t 😉 ). I make sometimes very moderately hot versions of this sauce too. You should try one day.
Glorious golden goodness! This definitely is a must-do. Tons of mangoes here now. And the local ones are nice and cheap. You can be sure I’ll be adding extra oomph to mine when I make this 🙂
Thank you so much, Ping. Somehow I knew you would be the one blessed with plenty of flavoursome, aromatic, fresh mangoes… (and cheap!). You are really lucky! I’m looking forward to see your mango creations.
This looks so vibrant. I’d love to smear a bit (or A LOT, lol) on some chicken. Chicken can be so blaaah sometimes. Thanks for sharing your sunshine recipe 😉
Thank you, Squishy Monster. I totally agree and always add lots of spices to chicken dishes or strong sauces, such as this one.
Sissy, your mango sauce is divine…a gorgeous color, and I can just taste the perfect combination of the sweet, sour, and hot, spicy, perfect addition to it. Your sauce is smooth, and silky, and I can just smell the wonderful aroma right through the screen!
Don’t be alarmed at my comment re: the same dishes, the photos, foods, etc. The reason I mentioned this is that I get quite a few “cocky” new bloggers that friend requests me on foodbuzz. They don’t normally want to have anything to do with your blog…instead ask you to be sure to check out their blog at such and such place…vote for them, or like them on facebook, and when you check out their blog (you almost want to feel sad for them)…even with some bloggers that have been blogging for a while. They come to your blog, and leave literally one, or two words, and expect a reply from you…only to see something “blaaahh” some mystery food plopped on a boring looking plate, with a terrible photo…no doubt…so I’d rather not even comment back to them!
Sorry for making this out to be so long!
Thank you, Elisabeth, for so many compliments… I’m flattered. You are very kind to mention my comment here. Thank you! (I totally agree by the way, but alas not only those who don’t make photographic efforts often behave in the way you describe… People have blogs for so different reasons. I see it would be a subject of a long, fascinating discussion between us and I’m a very talkative person, as you might have noticed 🙂 ).
Thanks for bringing this recipe back!! Love it! Huge chili and mango fan! It certainly makes a beautiful sauce that I’m sure tastes DElicious! I can think of several uses, but I would probably just eat it right out of the jar!
Thank you, MJ. I’m glad to learn you are also a chili and mango fan.
This sauce sounds delicious and I’m so glad you posted the recipe.
Thank you, Karen. I’m sure you would enjoy this sauce too.