I combined mango chutney with just a small amount of tangy goat cheese to create bite sized Mango Chutney Appetizers with Goat Cheese and Papadums that look elegant and taste out-of-this-world-amazing! In a previous post, I talked briefly about the preponderance of mango trees in Sri Lanka and how much of my childhood that I spent there was entwined with this fruit. The mango tree even has great significance in Sri Lankan culture, because legend has it that, Sri Lanka accepted and embraced the religion of Buddhism for the first time over two thousand years ago, following a symbolic conversation about mango trees (!), between the King that ruled the island at the time and a Buddhist missionary from India. Mango is one of the most cultivated fruits in the tropics, probably because it grows like a weed in that part of the world. And suffice it to say that I’ve always been obsessed with mangoes! This mango curry, mango lassi, mango relish with cream cheese, mango popsicles, and mango compote are just a sample of all the different ways I love to eat mangoes now! 🙂
Mango is a quintessential tropical fruit
When I was a kid, I used to eat mangoes like apples, with the skin on. Mind you this was juicy mango from trees that grew in our garden, so no pesticides etc. etc. An amusingly large portion of my childhood evenings were spent staring at baby mangoes that were ripening on trees and trying to make sure that I got to them first, before the birds and squirrels did. Sadly, the birds and the squirrels won way more often than I cared for. Occasionally, someone (an adult) would climb the trees and tie grocery bags around bunches of baby mangoes to preserve them from all the “uninvited guests” (which included the birds, the squirrels and the rowdy boys from the neighborhood) and when the mangoes were finally ready, I would approach the tree with a make-shift hook (usually a wire hanger) tied to a broomstick and pull the mangoes down from the tree. It was usually a two person job, I pulled the mangoes free from the tree and my little sister dashed around and collected them into a bag. And how much of my haul I shared with my sister, depended on her effort.
Mango chutney
As much as I loved eating mangoes as a kid, one way in which I did not want to eat it was in a chutney! I never quite understood why the adults obsessed about eating this perfectly sweet, delightfully juicy fruit – cooked with vinegar and spices. It just seemed like a waste. I mean I loved eating mango pickle, which was raw mangoes mixed with red chili, pepper, sugar and vinegar. But never mango relish with jalapeños or mango salsa or mango chutney. I never even tried it when I was young. I cannot believe that I missed so many years of enjoying this simple yet wonderful creation that is mango chutney. I still prefer homemade chutney over any other kind, though. Staying true to the classic chutney was not something I could do here however, simply because I couldn’t remember the classic chutney. So I went ahead and made my own version.
Mango appetizer
I served this beautiful pairing with papadum (on papadum to be more precise) as a fantastic mango appetizer! Papadums are a super thin, crisp, cracker-like snack that’s quite popular in South Asian cuisine. In fact these fatty acids are named after the Latin word for goat – Capra. However the overall fat content in goat milk is less than that of cow milk which also makes goat milk more digestible for humans. When combined, the tangy (sour) and creamy notes of goat cheese help the fruity sweetness of mangoes really pop and shine. That creaminess also complements the slight heat of mango chutney really well and that’s why this goat cheese – mango chutney combo in this recipe works brilliantly! If you’re considering a cheese substitution, I would suggest Gorgonzola which would still keep that sour-sweet flavor combo going. Personally however, I prefer goat cheese. 🙂 However they can get soggy really quickly from the moisture of the chutney, so remember to assemble the appetizer just before you serve to retain that crunch. Or, even better, you can just serve the papadum on the side, so people can help themselves to it. I cut out little rounds of papadums as you can see below (and kept the scraps for a meal for us on a later date).
Recipe substitutions
My favorite substitution for papadum in this recipe would be triscuit crackers or water crackers! Imagine those flavors with a crisp, slightly salted water cracker topped with goat cheese and sweet & spicy mango chutney?? Can I get a YES PLEASE? 🙂 Alternatively, you could serve this easy mango chutney with tortilla chips too.
How to serve mango chutney
You can serve this easy mango chutney as a lovely, fruity condiment in a variety of ways. You can find me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST and GOOGLE-PLUS too! I share pictures of recipes to come on the blog plus other awesome recipes I find out there that I want to try. Plus all kinds of “tidbits” on cooking, different types of cuisine and… flavors of course! 🙂
