A simple, fresh mango pickle and more!

A simple mango pickle -- or achaar.

Now: pickle, chutney....relish...: what's the difference? The terms seem to me to be used interchangeably, but pickle tends to connote something cooked --or at least fermented or steeped (as in the case of the wonderful Korean kimchee). I suppose chutney does too. The word chutney (originally chutnee) is, like bungalow or pyjamas (I could go on), an Anglo Indian word. I could talk until I bored you on the wonderful range of Indian chutneys, so varied from state to state, town to town, family to family. Achaar means any one of a range of cooked or raw (fresh) pickles -- and it's fresh ones I describe for you below. These are family recipes -- not standardised ones!

Back to the mangoes...

This is a fresh relish -- not so far removed from a finely chopped salad- that's lovely with Indian food, but also great on top of a jacket potato or in sandwiches. Or even by itself!

You just take....

Two fat mangoes. Nice ripe ones. You cube them. Top tip: first turn them into mango hedgehogs (beloved of my young boys) by cutting thick strips away from the fruit, peel and all. Score each strip in a criss cross pattern, bend it back and just slice off the cubes. Then butcher up the rest of the mango, leaving the stone to chew on later. Or give it to a fractious child to suck on. Works in our house.

Put your mango cubes in a bow, add a good pinch of sea salt, a large handful of coriander and half to one whole green chilli (or red), deseeded if you're not so tolerant of heat. That's all.

Now, here's another -- but man, it's hot. This is one my uncle Jamall makes.

Coconut chutney

You take the flesh of a coconut (drink the milk: some say it's a little probiotic, but I just like it). Chop it as finely as you can.
Add a very finely chopped green chilli and a large handful of fresh coriander, also finely chopped.
You could put the whole lot in a blender or food processor, using the 'pulse' mode and scraping the pickle down the sides as you go.
Hot, creamy, a little different and very aromatic. You could also add some mint. See what you like best.

And one more: Tomato and cucumber relish.

You just take two handfuls of cherry tomatoes or sweet tomatoes, chop them finely and add a medium cucumber, also finely chopped. The juice of a lemon or lime and a flat teaspoon of a 'chaat' powder. Those wonderful aromatic spice blends that are used to complement both sweet and savoury snack foods. Mix well. Done. I tend to serve this with a variety of Indian dishes .