Juicy Crunchy Mango Salsa – A Summer Delight

From what I have understood about salsa is that it is a staple side dish that mommy prepared to add a little something extra to the dinner. I strongly feel that every food invention in the world is mostly based on a mother’s desperation to feed her child nutritious and yet delicious food!(?). Ma didn’t buy anything fancy for it, she just worked with whatever was in the kitchen already – “leftover tomatoes? let me add that. Leftover onion? sure. And finally these leftover cilantro sprigs.” Could that be really possible?

Everything apart, it is summer here. And that means only one thing here – mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes. The moment you step in a grocery store, the fruity smell of mangoes catches your attention and hence you are forced to buy a kg or two for yourself. There are infinite varieties of mangoes in the market with price ranging from a let’s say Rs 35 for a kg to Rs 200 for a kg.  With so much of mango happening, it is only obvious that for a few months mangoes will be cooked in the kitchen in a number of different ways – they will be chopped and grated, boiled and steamed, sugared and pickled, and what not.

I started my summer mango fiesta with this juicy crunchy mango salsa. All it really requires is flavorful mangoes. To compliment the yellow mangoes with some nice bright color and to add a crunch to their softness, I have used red bell pepper for the salsa. All other ingredients are regulars.

Mango Salsa Recipe

You Would Need

1 large mango

1 average-sized red bell pepper

1/8 of a cup of packed chopped cilantro

Salt, pepper and lime juice to taste

How To Go About It

Dice the mango and red bell pepper in nice even sizes.

Stir mango, bell pepper, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper together. Nice amount of pepper and lime juice works wonder for salsa, but of course let your taste buds guide you here. I find fork handy while mixing stuff like that.

The end product should carry distinct flavor of each of its ingredients with the focus being on mango.

My recipe here is very basic and I prefer it because of its simplicity. Each ingredient carries its own identity and doesn’t get lost in the crowd. However there are other ingredients that you can add in the same recipe to add an extra flavor. Other ingredients that can compliment a preparation like this are onions, cucumbers, jalapenos and mint.

And yes, mango salsa tastes best when served chilled. So let it be in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before serving.