By Leslie Cohen
When I was a small girl I invented a salad that I’m pretty sure to this day no one else has ever thought of.
It was: shredded cheddar cheese rolled into little balls (like the kind you might hide half a phenobarbital in to extend the life of an epileptic pug), chopped parsley, black pepper, and a little bit of water.
Oh, there might have been garlic powder too.
The first time I ate it, it was pretty good. But after that, for a while, I couldn’t remember the ingredients. Maybe something in my reptilian brain said “no, that’s enough.”
The point is, I arrived at cheddar cheese with no expectations, and I just put it with other things I liked, and it worked okay.
The same can kind of be said of mango chutney, because I’ve never actually had mango chutney with South Asian food.
This is probably because chutney, as most Americans know it, has little to do with what you’d find across India today. It’s actually an Anglo-Indian thing, attributed to the mythical colonial officer Major Grey – basically the Betty Crocker of Britain’s imagined India. As The New York Times tells it:
“Major Grey was an officer in the Bengal Lancers and was something of a food connoisseur. While in India, he or his Bengali cook created this chutney by combining mangoes, raisins, chilies, garlic, vinegar, sugar and spices. The formula was eventually sold to Crosse & Blackwell, then an English company, founded in 1706.”
Via Britain, chutney traveled to other colonies, including the United States. And over the centuries, it transformed to reflect the culinary landscapes of its new homes.
The word itself, chutney, is an anglicized version of the Hindi chatni, which has a more complex definition than its translations. Like chai (tea) or hummus (chickpeas), it’s meaning in English is tangential to the original, primarily understood (and misunderstood) through context.
And so was its composition and usage as a condiment. In the UK, as Saveur points out, “a dollop might complement cheddar cheese” at an English pub just as easily as it could come as a side to curry.*
So, I just ate chutney and felt no weirdness about applying it to everything, because it’s a condiment and that’s what condiments are for. For several months in 2012 few things couldn’t be improved by mango chutney.
This is one of my best chutney inventions. It’s a salad – basic leafy greens, butter lettuce, or even romaine’s fine. Something delicate with texture is nice if possible.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions.Lots of herbs. And when I say lots I mean, don’t get caught up thinking there are right herbs for this.
It can be parsley, chives, and basil, but it can also be tarragon and mint, or all cilantro. It can be just one measly herb if that’s all you can rustle up and it will still be really good, because honestly the dressing is going to slam into, and pretty much tigger bounce it. It just needs to be “herby” although probably not an entire sage plant, but who can say in these difficult times.
(I got excited writing “slam,” but reminded myself I am not Guy Fieri.)
But this dressing though, and the salad as a whole, I am sharing because a range of young and old, fusty and hip people have asked for the recipe.
My dad likes it, and he enjoys ranch mainly and is also a no-salad-thank-you kind of guy.
So here it is.
*Editor’s note: for more on the British colonial relationship with Indian food, read Eating cultures: Incorporation, identity and Indian food by Uma Narayan. It opens with a bigass Edward Said quote, obviously.
Herb Salad with Chutney
Ingredients
For the salad:
4 cups lettuce (mixed greens, butter lettuce, romaine all work great), torn in bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped tomatoes
⅔ cup chopped cucumbers
2 scallions sliced thin, including the green
3 tbsp mixed herbs
These are guidelines for the max-level of crazy I personally go for. Get a little friskier than you think you’re going to enjoy, this is the pleasant surprise part:
Parsley+cilantro
Parsley+chives+basil+oregano
Tarragon+mint
Dill+oregano+chives
For the dressing:
1 ½ tbsp champagne or apple cider vinegar
1 ½ tbsp mango chutney
2 tbsp hummus
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Combine all salad ingredients. If you want to make it ahead, put a damp paper towel on top and stick it in the fridge for up to 1 hour.
2. Combine the first 3 dressing ingredients, then slowly whisk in olive oil to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust other ingredients as needed. More hummus evens out anything too punchy.
3. Add dressing to salad right before serving and toss to coat.
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