Curried Banana-Mango Chutney

In Thinlandia, we’re always searching for new and creative ways to use fruit and vegetables in an exciting and healthful manner. This often involves putting ingredients together that might initially seem like an eclectic, even odd fit, but ends up actively stimulating your taste buds in an intriguing new way. This chutney is one of those “exotic taste adventures!”

This very exciting recipe was modified from a recipe found at the Food Geeks site. Thanks, Joe!

Curried Banana-Mango Chutney

Ingredients:
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup brown sugar plus 6 packets Truvia sweetener
1 1/3 teaspoon curry powder (I used 1 tsp regular and 1/3 – 1/2 tsp sodium free curry powder)
20 grinds black pepper
½ (scant) teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Also Salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (couple of shakes)
4 bananas
1 mango, diced
3 tablespoons raisins

Directions:
Combine vinegar, sugar, curry powder, black and cayenne pepper, Also Salt, and cinnamon in a non-reactive saucepan. Heat to simmer, stirring, and cook for 1 minute. Peel 3 bananas, slice and add to saucepan. Add diced mangoes (about 1 cup) and raisins. Heat fruit mixture and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens. Slice and add remaining bananas to chutney. Stir to mix well, remove from heat, cover and let stand 30 minutes.

Nutrition Facts:

Makes about 3 cups, or 9 1/3 cup servings

Calories Per Serving: 102
Calories from Fat: 3
Total Fat 0.3g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 26mg
Total Carbohydrates 24.1g
Dietary Fiber 2.1g
Sugars 17.0g
Protein 0.8g

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 18%
Calcium 1% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

My initial question, after making this very exotic chutney, was “How on earth am I supposed to serve this stuff? What does it GO with?” I suspect it goes well with Indian bread, or over Jasmine rice, or as a side dish for some sort of Asian meal. I, however, opted for a relatively traditional sandwich implemented in a non-traditional way.

Cheddar Cheese and Chutney Sandwiches have apparently been around for millenia – I just never knew about them! But the concept intrigued me, so here’s what I did. I took…

1 Arnold Multigrain Sandwich Thin (100 calories)
1 slice Sargento brand Sharp Cheddar Cheese (80 calories)
1 thin slice of red onion (5 calories)
1/3 cup of Curried Banana-Mango Chutney (102 calories)

After spraying the outside of the sandwich with Pam Organic Olive Oil spray, I placed it carefully in my George Foreman Grill, which I had preheated to medium heat.

A couple of minutes later, I had a luscious, rich, piping hot grilled panini sandwich, all for less than 300 calories! What a wonderful way to travel to Thinlandia!