Green Mango Kachumber Salad with Amazingly Healthy Raw, Green, Unripe Mangoes
Mmm, ever since my first bite of a ripe, juicy, golden fleshed, sweet and delicious mango, I wondered where they had been all my life. Now, all these years later, I’ve tasted and reveled at my first bite of a hard, unripe, pale fleshed, sour and crisp green mango. 
I now wonder where green mangoes have been all my life. Knowing about them and their health benefits, I’ve eagerly topped soups, grain bowls, lettuce leaves and more with Green Mango Kachumber Salad.
This new-to-me discovery of green mangoes comes as a result of creating my upcoming A Taste of India Cooking Class, as I wanted to include something fresh to accompany the meal.
Kachumber
In Indian cuisine a side salad of chopped onion, tomato, cucumber 
seasoned with chili and cumin or coriander goes by the name kachumber. Kachumber originated from the Hindi word kachumar meaning to mix.
Finding ripe and flavorful tomatoes in the middle of winter is pretty much impossible in Montana. So I searched for an alternative. Such a welcome surprise to discover a kachumber salad made with unripe mangoes. As green mangoes don’t require the summer’s sun for depth of flavor, they are tasty and refreshing throughout the year.
All varieties of kachumber salad you make are enjoyed more as a condiment than by the plateful as we do with salads in the West.
Cutting, peeling, grating a green, unripe mango
The technique for cutting a green, unripe mango is the same as for cutting a ripe mango. 
However, peeling a hard, green mango is much easier than peeling a soft, ripe mango. The lack of silky (slippery) texture means you can use a vegetable peeler on a green mango to easily remove the skin.
- Use a sharp knife to cut along either side of the center pit, separating the mango into 3 sections.
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel each of the sections of a green mango. Then cut away the flesh from the sides of the pit.
- Use the grating disc of a food processor or a box grater to grate the mango.
Green Mango Kachumber Salad
A little sour, a little sweet, a little spiced, a lot refreshing and delicious. Green Mango Kachumber Salad made with a green, unripe mango is a quickly made Gujarati salad to accompany 
Indian meals. Inspired by and adapted from a recipe by Kanan.
The range given for the spices and sweetener are guidelines for how hot, sweet or mild you’d like your salad. Whichever quantities you choose, do let the salad sit 10-15 minutes before eating it. This allows time for the onion to soften and all the flavors to marry.
Serve Green Mango Kachumber salad more as a condiment than by the plateful. Delicious topping a bean soup, a grain bowl, a lettuce leaf and more.
Makes 2-3 servings as a side dish/condiment
Active time 10 minutes Printer-Friendly Recipe
Total time 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup grated hard, green, unripe mango
¼ cup very thinly sliced onion
⅛– ½ teaspoon red chili powder
⅛– ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar
Large pinch of salt
Instructions
- Cut the mango along either side of the central pit. Peel each half and the outside of the flesh surrounding the pit. Grate the flesh.
- Toss the grated mango with the very thinly sliced onion. Mix
in the red chili powder, ground cumin, coconut palm sugar and salt to taste. - Cover and refrigerate the salad for at least 5-10 minutes before serving. As Green Mango Kachumber Salad sits the onion softens and mellows and the flavors marry.
- Although the green mango loses some of its crispness with time, Green Mango Kachumber Salad remains fresh and tasty for 2-3 days stored in the refrigerator.