the mango chutney was definitive a highlight of our dinner. i never made chutney before (actually i barely ever tasted it), and so i was at first a bit sceptical how it would turn out. a combination between several internet recipes and again jaffrey’s book yielded this:

Ingredients:

• 1 green mango (about 500g)
• 100-150ml water
• 185 ml vinegar
• 180g brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 4cm ginger
• 30g chopped raisins
• half of a fresh red chili and chili pepper flakes (to taste)
• 1.5 tsp salt

peel the mango, remove the core and cut in small cubes. dice ginger and garlic. cook these three together in water until the mango is tender. add vinegar, sugar, chilis, cardamom, salt and cook until a little thick (this took quite a while – i think more than one hour). if you want to preserve it, pour into sterilized jars while still hot.

and how did we get the lava in the jar?

i love rice pudding, but i don’t like stirring all the time to prevent the rice from sticking at the bottom of the pan, as it is often the case when you make the rice pudding with milk. here is a stick-free version:

Ingredients:

• 1 mango
• 1 tsp runny honey
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• lemon thyme
• 200g short-grain rice
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 15-20g vanilla sugar (to taste)
• one can (400ml) coconut milk

peal and cut the mango, marinate it in honey, lemon juice and a little bit of lemon thyme. cook rice and salt in water for 10 minutes.  strain the rice, put it back into the pot. add cinnamon stick, vanilla sugar and coconut milk. cook over low heat for another 10-15 minutes (stirring only occasionally), until the rice reaches your desired consistency/creaminess – i like it if the grain is still a bit firm inside, as in risotto.

we eat this as a quick lunch, or as dessert, it can also add to any brunch buffet. actually, you can eat it at any time of the day. and by the way, can you spot our table decoration?