I travelled quite a bit recently, during the height of the Indian summer. While away, I experienced rather different weather conditions, including springtime. I found a bounty of lovely vegetables available at the markets, and took advantage of this to make a variety of soups every day for lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed these, and once I returned home, I still felt eager to keep that routine. Here, of course, summer means mangoes, mangoes, mangoes. Fortunately, the king of fruits being in season gave me an excellent way to have the best of both worlds, and stay in soup mode: a mango gazpacho.
The gazpacho is a cold soup that was originally prepared in Andalusia. It predates refrigeration, and the desired temperature would be achieved both through using specific pounding techniques on the ingredients as well as through the kind of earthenware used to store or serve it. Now, of course, a gazpacho is much easier to chill.
Here in India, soups – let alone cold soups – are not yet a very popular concept except as a novelty, but I do believe that an easy recipe like this can change that. We tend to prefer buttermilk or seasonal juices, like this jamun drink to help us beat the heat, but as the temperature rises each year, so too should our imaginativeness and resourcefulness. Even when it comes to gazpacho itself, I should note that tomatoes are usually the main ingredient, certainly not fruits, although many innovations exist.
The dish has made a prior appearance on this blog, in the form of watermelon gazpacho, which was for a long time a summer favourite in my home. While both are fruit-based renditions, there is a vast difference in the flavours of both. I had never tried a mango gazpacho before, and was simply curious about how it may turn out. The results were fantastic, as you may soon experience for yourself.
When I began posting on this blog less, so as to focus on my forthcoming book more, I thought that I was going to break my longstanding tradition of sharing mango recipes during the season. Not so, as it turns out. That said, I have noticed that this year the mango harvests seem a bit lean. I have observed that this seems to happen every other year, and there must be some kind of logic of seasonality to this. Additionally, this year the better harvests started late, not in March as they usually do, which is why we are able to have good mangoes well into June.
As someone who is fortunate to grow, be gifted as well as to purchase mangoes, I feel we are just so lucky to have the season at all. I really do make the most of it every year. Adding this gazpacho into my mango consumption has been a delight.
I must admit, however: while the mango gazpacho helped me transition back to my standard Indian thalis after eating hearty bowls of vegetable soup every day while abroad for a few weeks, I did manage to regulate my cravings so that I now prepare the gazpacho as an appetizer of sorts rather than as either a soup or main course. That is because it does have a high sugar content. Nowadays, I serve it in small glasses before the main meal. That way, it’s possible to have it more frequently too.
Like most good things, it’s all about moderation. There is also an Ayurvedic technique that can reduce the heatiness of the mango. Soak it in water, whole and with the peel on, for anywhere between half an hour and two hours prior to consumption. While that doesn’t help with the sugar quotient, it can help with the overall effect on the body. Don’t forget that by its nature, any gazpacho becomes quite welcome at the peak of summer, and this preparatory step may further influence its value as a cooling dish.
Mango Gazpacho
(Serves: 4)
1 cup mango chunks
1½ cups water (or as required)
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cucumber (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon jalapeños (finely chopped)
½ tablespoon onions (finely chopped)
A few spring onion leaves
1 teaspoon mint leaves (chopped)
Blend together the mango chunks, water, rice vinegar, salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Process until smooth. Pour into a bowl.
Now, add the cucumber, jalapeño and onions. Stir and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Garnish with mint leaves and spring onion leaves.
I am very sure that this mango gazpacho will be an enjoyable addition to your repertoire. If you like soups and/or love mangoes, there are many more recipes to explore in either or both directions across my archive too!
