This is a mildly spicy combination of the Mango and Red Pepper Chutney and the Mango and Red Onion Chutney found on Epicurious.com.

Makes about 3 cups (less if you cook it down a lot). The greener the mangoes the less they shrink during cooking. About 1 hour chopping time.

• 1 lb diced ripe-but-firm mango, 1/2-inch dice. About 3/4 of a large 2 lb mango
• 1/6 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (plus 1-2 Tbsp more as needed to balance flavors)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice (we substituted 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice + 1 tbsp brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar (we substituted 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar and filled the remainder 1/4c with white rice vinegar). Cider vinegar was quite strong - consider using 1/8 cup.
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup diced red pepper, 1/4-inch dice. About 1/2 of a large pepper.
• 1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1.5 Tbsp finely minced ginger
• Spices
  • scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/8 tsp cumin
  • 3/8 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tsp curry powder (We prefer Yeo's Malaysian curry, a medium spicy and fragrant assertive curry)
• Optional: 1.5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• Coarsely ground black pepper

Toss together mangoes, raisins, brown sugar, vinegar and pineapple juices, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Mince and mash together ginger, garlic (if using), and remaining 1/4 tsp salt using the back of a spoon on the cutting board. For slightly less work, you can skip mashing the ginger w/ the salt. Stir in Spices.

Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Saute onion and bell pepper, stirring occasionally until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ginger-spice paste then reduce heat to medium. Cook 1 minute longer, stirring. Stir in mango mixture and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened and liquid has mostly evaporated, about 30-40 minutes. This depends a lot on how ripe your mangoes are. Very ripe ones will release a lot of juice and basically fall apart, meaning you'll need to cook it down more if you don't want soupy chutney. We found that a mix of ripe and slightly less ripe works well. The less ripe ones preserve their shape which is nice to see and make for a more interesting texture.

Taste and season with more sugar if too tart. Add coarse pepper as desired. Cool. Serve chutney at room temperature.

Original recipe says this keeps 2-4 weeks covered in an airtight container and refrigerated. It will probably last us 3 days.

May 2008 Update: Cider vinegar seems to pack a really strong punch. Still using lemon juice (from very mild Ponderosa lemons) + brown sugar in place of the pineapple juice. Had to add an extra Tbsp of brown sugar at the end. Realized that I'd forgotten to list the ginger all these years. Whoops! Fixed now.
 

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