I needed a load of fresh paprika today for a pot of paprikash I was making, so I headed over to my favorite spice store in the whole world, Savory Spice Shop. I never get out of there with just the item I went in for, and today was no exception. Most of my purchases were things I am familiar with. But one new item caught my eye: mango powder.
I have heard of mango powder before, having seen it used on "Spice Goddess" and other shows. But, I've never used it myself or even tasted it before. It is technically not a spice, though it is used like one. It's the ground-up powder of dried, unripe mangoes. I have learned that it is used in Northern Indian cooking but not in many other cuisines. Mango powder is tart and tangy and not sweet like you might expect. It can be used to add a tang to foods, not unlike the way we use lemon or lime in some dishes, but without adding extra liquid.
Bal Arneson, the Spice Goddess, uses mango powder in chutneys and in her vegetarian burger recipe. Elsewhere I saw a recipe that used it in a seasoning blend for battered and fried eggplant. So far I have only tried it in a chutney. It was a nice tangy flavor but I can see that it would be easy to overdo it; the flavor is strong. I am planning on making a curry with the mango powder in a couple of days to see what sortof interesting flavors I can create. I'll report on that when that happens.
Anybody out there ever cook with mango powder? What did you do with it?
Happy eating!
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