Why it works: Turmeric and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,776 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Mango Pickle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and salt
Slit the mangoes lengthwise and remove the seed.
Sprinkle salt over the mangoes, including inside, and sun-dry for a few hours daily for 3-4 days.
Peel and dry again
Peel the mangoes and cut them in half, removing the stones.
Sprinkle with salt and sun-dry for another 3-4 days.
Stuff and preserve
Wipe the mangoes with a cloth and stuff with garlic, green ginger, mustard seed, and chillies.
Tie them with thread and preserve in vinegar or oil, keeping in a closed vessel in the sun for several days.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,776 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Turmeric + mustardtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,279 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Turmeric + clovetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,876 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Mango + turmerictop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together256 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Unripe green mangoes
- Provide the firm, tart flesh that forms the body of the pickle.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the fruit and helps preserve it against spoilage.
- Turmeric
- Gives the pickle its yellow colour and earthy flavour.
- Mustard seed
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that mellows during the long preserving period.
- Garlic
- Adds pungent aroma and sharpness to the stuffed mangoes.
- Sweet oil
- Covers the mangoes to limit air contact and carries the spice flavours.
The step that matters
Salting and sun-drying the mangoes. Salt draws water out of the fruit and inhibits spoilage microbes, so it must reach every cut surface, including the inside, before the mangoes are sealed in oil or vinegar.
Swap the mango
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turmeric, ginger, mustard, clove, garlic, vinegar):
- Limefits better
- Lemonfits about as well
- Mangothe original
- Avocadofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against turmeric, ginger, mustard, clove, garlic, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More mango pickle recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.