Spicy Mango Salad Recipe
Recipe from Cooking With Stella at TIFF 2009 with Don McKellar
Sep 16, 2009
Salads are unusual in Indian cuisine, where vegetables are usually cooked and served warm. This Spicy Mango Salad (reprinted here with permission) is a "fusion" recipe from the film Cooking with Stella, which premiered in a gala presentation at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.
In Stella, off-duty chef Michael (played by Don McKellar) is trying to master Indian cuisine while he is in New Delhi on a diplomatic posting with his wife (Lisa Ray). He hopes to impress his enigmatic new cook and "Indian cooking guru" Stella (played straight as an arrow by scene-stealer Seema Biswas) with this unusual dish. The hard to please Stella is suitably pleased by the tasty salad. It balances the sweet mangoes with the nutty crunch of peanuts, crispy fresh radishes and a kiss of heat from the chiles. Try it together with Stella's Kerala Shrimp Recipe.
Spicy Mango Salad
- 2 large ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 English cucumber, cut lengthwise into quarters and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 medium red onion, peeled and chopped
- 8 to 10 radishes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces or in half
- 1 green cayenne chile, seeded and minced
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 to 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 2 to 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 to 3 tbsp fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp unsalted peanuts, toasted and chopped
Directions:
- Place the mangoes, cucumbers, red onion, radishes and chiles in a large bowl.
- Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, toss in the curry leaves and cumin seeds. Let cook for about 30 seconds and then remove from heat.
- Cool for a moment, then stir in the lime juice and pour over the chopped salad.
- Toss, taste for salt and adjust flavour as required.
- Garnish the salad with the fresh chopped coriander, mint and peanuts.
- Serve immediately.
Cooking with Stella is part comedy of errors, part food fantasy. When food takes centre stage, the film is at its best. Directed by Dilip Mehta (with screenplay co-written by Dilip's Oscar nominated sister and Water director Deepa Mehta), Cooking with Stella follows a young Canadian diplomatic couple (Don McKellar and Lisa Ray) as they take up residence in New Delhi and navigate the topsy turvy waters of their new posting with good-natured but deceptive servants, and a class system that confounds them.
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