Here’s a simple and refreshing recipe for summer time. These days I’m on the look out for recipes which are different from the usual kind which I make at home, like curries, but mostly using ingredients which I already have. One of the things that I’ve learnt over the years, is to substitute. Yeah, I know it’s a pretty common sense kinda thing to do, but I never used to do it when I started cooking. If a recipe called for say 10 gms of an ingredient which I rarely use, I used to go n buy the 100 gms packet, just because the 10 gms isnt available and bin the rest of 90 gms, if I get around to make it. Otherwise the whole thing will end up in bin during my cupboard cleaning spree, sigh! Still there are times, when I go n buy those 100 gms, knowing fully well that I’ll use only 10 gms of it. But I’ve trained myself to decide whether it’s worth it or not. This only happens with expensive ingredients, there is no point in over analysing and wasting your time over a few cents, at least in my view.
So coming to this recipe, one of our friends gifted us a carton of Ratnagiri Alphonso Mangoes . At first I thought we will just eat it as is, because those Mangoes are so good that you dont feel like adding anything to it, out of the fear that you may spoil it. We did just that with the whole lot, except for a few. I kept looking for a recipe using Mangoes, with minimal ingredients. I wanted a recipe that highlights the freshness and taste of the mango. After some research I zeroed in on this recipe. When I saw the pic of this salsa, I was sold. You could feel the freshness of the mango in that pic.
Salmon is something that we both like. As I said before, I dont usually do much experiment with Salmon also. Just grill it on stove top with a simple marinade of lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. When we have salmon, I usually make some simple sides like mashed potato or stir fried veggies. So for a change, after seeing this recipe, I decided to go with the same combo, even when I had some doubts about how mango and salmon works together. I even kept some mashed potatoes ready, if in case the mango salmon combo backfired. Honestly, I was a bit surprised at how it paired so well! Somehow the whole thing together just turned out perfect!
If you dont eat Salmon, may be you can just try the salsa, it’s very much capable of holding on it’s own. It’s a very refreshing and a perfectly balanced dish with a wonderful flavour from the sweetness of mangoes, heat from the chilli, and a hint of acidity from the lemon juice.
Recipe from here
- Ripe mango – 2 cups diced (about 2 mangos)
- Chopped onion – ½ cup
- Avocado – 1 cup diced (1 medium avocado)
- Fresh coriander leaves – ¼ cup minced
- Extra virgin olive oil – 2 tablespoons
- Red chilli flakes – ¼ teaspoon
- Lemon juice – 1 – 1.5 tbsp
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt
- Fresh salmon filet – 1½ pounds (680 gms, approx)
- Freshly-ground black pepper
- Salt
- Salted butter – 1 tbsp
- Minced garlic – 2 tsp
- Minced Parsley/dill leaves – 1 tbsp
- Combine all the ingredients for salsa in a bowl. Stir well. Adjust the seasoning and you are good to go.
- For Salmon
- Wash and pat dry the salmon nicely with a kitchen tissue. Season all sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil (I used olive oil) in a pan and place the salmon, skin-side-down. After a few mins, turn over. Cook it till it’s done as per your liking.
- For Butter garlic glaze
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add minced garlic and parsely. Cook for a min or two.
- Drizzle the butter garlic glaze (if using) on cooked salmon and serve with salsa.
Also, if you look at the salmon picture, you can see it’s kinda overcooked, because I like it that way. You can adjust the cooking time to suit your taste requirements.
Make the salsa first and salmon later.