A A smartly curated pantry is a home cook’s best friend, holding inside the ability to take your daily meals in countless different directions with just the twist of the lid. The simple truth is that it’s all on you truly The need to prepare delicious food at home is a capsule of delicious pantry ingredients. This, for me, includes everyday staples like toasted sesame oil, dark maple syrup, and peanut butter, and bold taste enhancers like tamarind, pecorino romano, and gochujang. Another item I reach for again and again is mango chutney, a beloved staple on the Punjabi table during my childhood in Leicester. Today, I use it in countless different ways to liven up everything I cook, leaning into its characteristics as a gooey and cellulite, loudly tropical, brilliantly spiced, sweet and mellow flavor hero. These recipes show you some of the ways you can use mango chutney, or indeed any ingredient in a carefully stocked pantry, when you free yourself to play with the ingredients with creative fun.
Mango chicken schnitzel with mashed peas and lemon leaves (pictured above)
The schnitzel and mushy peas have that Fanny Craddock-meets-Wimpy charm that always draws me back to the ’70s — and they also scream out for the addition of pineapple rings, piped green mashed potatoes, and silver jugs of parsley sauce on the side. My flavor-enhancing take on this culinary trail uses mango salsa to add tropical pizazz to chicken, and lime notes to infuse peas with a Southeast Asian scent.
Preparatory school 10 minutes
soak 30 minutes+
He cooks 20 minutes
serves 2
For schnitzel
5 tablespoons mango sauceplus more for service
3 fat garlic clovespeeler
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Fine sea salt and Black pepper
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 x 250g)
Corn flourfor shoveling
1 large eggto hit
60 grams Panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon black seed
2 tablespoons sesame
Sunflower or vegetable oilFor frying
Lemon wedgesFor service
For peas
400 grams frozen peas
12-14 fresh makrut lemon leaves
About 30 fresh mint leaves
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
20 grams of butter
A splash of olive oilFor frying
2 Spring onionTrimmed and finely chopped
Place the sauce, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon each salt and ground black pepper in a small blender and blend until smooth.
Place one chicken breast between two sheets of baking paper, then gently flatten with a rolling pin into a 3-4mm thick steak – but don’t hit too hard or the meat will tear. Repeat with the other breast. Place the flat breasts in a large bowl, dip them in the mango sauce paste, and leave them to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil the peas in a pot of boiling salted water for three minutes, then drain them and set them aside. In a small blender, blend the lemon leaves, mint, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of the zest until you have a very smooth paste.
Melt the butter with a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the green paste and fry, stirring, for two minutes. Add the green onions, cook for a minute, then add the peas and a teaspoon of salt, and cook for another minute. Mash the pea mixture with a potato masher until coarse and chunky (or blend until it turns into a puree), and keep it warm while you cook the chicken.
Place the corn flour in a large bowl, the egg in another bowl, and the bread crumbs, nigella seeds, and sesame seeds in a third bowl. Dip one schnitzel in the cornmeal, turn it over until it’s completely coated, let it sit for 30 seconds, then cover it again until it’s completely covered. Shake off any excess cornmeal, then dredge in the egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture until liberally coated. Repeat with the second slice.
Put 2cm of oil in a deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat (if you have a probe, you want it to reach 165°C). Fry the schnitzel slices one at a time for six or seven minutes, turning occasionally, until they are crispy, golden brown on the outside and cooked through.
Serve with mashed peas, lemon slices and extra mango chutney on the side.
Crispy Balinese pork rolls with mango
After a week of yoga, juicing and singing at a Balinese jungle resort in Ubud a few years ago, I made the executive decision to step back from all that “wellness” by booking into Slow in Canggu. It is without a doubt one of the most stylish, elegant and cosmopolitan places I have ever stayed, with beautiful boho interiors, a dream tropical cocktail list and a Balinese-themed, cross-cultural menu that reads like poetry. These marinated pork rolls were inspired by my stay there, with mango chutney, lemongrass, fish sauce, peanuts and lime creating an acrobatic twist in the taste. Forget yoga: cooking these things is my kind of meditation.
Preparatory school 15 minutes
He cooks 45 minutes
makes 10 large rolls or 20 small rolls
8 Lime leaves makrutthe stems were removed
20 grams of lemon grasscoarsely chopped
10 grams A handle of fresh gingercoarsely chopped
6 garlic clovespeeler
1 tablespoon fish sauce
20 grams of roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon chili flakes
3 tablespoons vegetable oilplus an additional amount for brushing
1 large red onionPeeled and cut into small cubes
500 grams Minced pork (at least 5% fat)
100 grams of mango sauce
Juice and peel of 2 finely grated lemons
Fine sea salt
10 sheets of phyllo dough
Nigella sativa seedsto finish
In a blender, pulse the lemon leaves, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, peanuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili flakes and a little water to a very smooth paste.
Put the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then fry the onions for five to six minutes, until they soften. Add the pork and fry, stirring, for 10-12 minutes until most of the moisture has evaporated and the meat begins to brown. Add the lemon leaf paste and cook for three minutes, then add the sauce and cook for another three minutes.
Add lemon juice, a teaspoon of lemon peel, and a teaspoon and a half of salt, then remove from heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C) / 425°F / Gas 7. Place a sheet of filo on a board, then cut it in half. Spread 2 tablespoons of the cooled ground beef mixture in a thick line down one side of the leaf half, then fold over the sides and roll into a cigar. Grease the seam to seal, then place seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the pastry and filling. Brush the top liberally with oil, then sprinkle the nigella seeds.
Bake for 14-16 minutes, until crispy on the outside and hot in the middle, then serve with drinks or as a starter, perhaps with a dip or chili sauce.
These recipes are edited extracts from Flavor Heroes: 15 Modern Ingredients to Amplify Your Cooking, by Gurdeep Loyal, published last week by Quadrille, priced £27. To order a copy for £24.30, go to guardianbookshop.com
