How Mumbai-based pickle-makers, mixologists are using mangoes beyond the season

The king of fruits may be bowing out for the season but pickle-makers and mixologists are whipping up their magic to extend its shelf life with preserves to keep the flavours alive for a couple of months

Mango chilli mead

The team at Moonshine Meadery loves to mix things up and create limited edition small drops they call ‘MeadLABs’. “We had started this before the lockdown as part of our small batch series. We are restarting the series with the Mango chilli mead. Usually, we make this mead with kesar keri, but this year we have taken hapus (Alfonso) and complemented it with Naga bhut jolokia chillies,” co-founder Rohan Rehani tells us. This combination translates into the mild sweetness of honey mead, the fruity-forward flavour of mango, and a gentle hit of the chillies. The process is interesting. “We make a base mead and introduce the pulp in a tea bag method into the tank. This keeps the pulp from accumulating and the filters from choking up. For about four to five days, we rotate the mead and increase contact time. We filter the mead out twice before carbonating and bottling.
At: Wine shops across city or @moonshinemeadery. 
Cost: Rs 190

Panchkutiya pickle

Mango pickle and brine. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Using a lacto-fermentation technique, Nina Doshi of Nina’s Hakuna Batata India has used this season’s bounty of Rajapuri and Laadva mangoes to make Panchkutiya pickle and an all-season mango brine. A Kathiawadi Gujarati who grew up in Kolkata, her five-blend pickle is an attempt to blend ingredients from the East and West together. The pickle has no masala or oil, and is made of healthy ingredients that one can preserve throughout the year.

Nina Doshi

“We use amla, karamda [good for antioxidants], raw mangoes [packed with antioxidants and polyphenols], ginger, lemon [as natural preservative and known to be good for the digestive system] and green chillies. To this, we add heaty mustard and cooling fennel. Mustard seeds are good for bone health and immunity, and kalonji helps with diabetes. In the right combination, it is a tasty pickle, which is good for the stomach,” Doshi explains. She uses this pickle to make achari paratha, aloo sabzi and even raita. The brine procured after salting the mangoes with turmeric does not go waste either. “This brine can be used the entire year for winter pickles, as a vinegar replacement, and a souring agent to make kanji.
Call: 9892745634 
Log on to: ninainthekitchen@gmail.com. 
Cost: Rs 430 for 200 gms

Mango tango

When it’s mango season, Kishor Sakpal, senior bartender at Poco Loco sets about making mango shrub. Timed with their Taco and Tequila festival, he uses it to make the mango tango cocktail. To a jar of three-four peeled and chopped mangoes, he adds half a cup of sugar, zest of a lime, 50 ml lime juice and a pinch of salt.

Mango shrub for mango tango

After a good shake, it goes into the refrigerator for three days. Once all the sugar has dissolved, he strains the shrub and discards the solids. He then adds vinegar for increasing the shelf life. If you’re making it at home, refrigerate it well. The drink can last upto two months.
At: Poco Loco, Hotel Shubhangan, Khar West; Poco Loco Kapoor Mansion, 9, N S Patkar Marg, Gamdevi.
Time: 12 pm to 1.30 am
Call: 9324191366
Cost: Rs 640

Canteen Gibson

Canteen Gibson cocktail with raw mango pickle. Pic/Ashish Raje

At The Bombay Canteen, Prantik Haldar, its beverage innovations head, whips up a vinegar-based pickle with raw mango slices, spices including cinnamon, peppercorn, mace, coriander seeds, Kashmiri chillies, kalonji, fennel, along with dill leaves and mint that will last a couple of months. This mix is used in the Canteen Gibson cocktail, and is made with gin, the brine of the pickled mango, Oloroso (“scented” in Spanish) sherry (a variety of fortified wine made in Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative aging) along with some extra dry vermouth. “The mango pickle apart from giving the drink a touch of sour or tanginess, also adds a slightly astringent flavour, making it a vibrant cocktail. Vinegar pickling is a classic Western-style of pickling fruits or vegetables. The process includes making a pickle brine with spices and other flavouring agents and soaking the fruit or the vegetable in it for a few days. In this case, it is raw mango,” says Haldar. We must mention the Chilled sea bass sev puri from their Chhota menu that comes topped with the seasonal sweet-sour raw mango chutney. While it is not preserved through the year, catch it while the season lasts.
At: The Bombay Canteen, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel.
Time: 12 pm to 1 am
Call: 8880802424
Cost: Rs 860 (Canteen Gibson); Rs 585 (Chilled sea bass sev puri)

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