My eldest son looks forward to the mango season in  Australia with as much enthusiasm as a child let loose in a lolly shop or the ultimate toy store. In fact, he would far prefer to feast on golden mangoes more than any sort of confectionery. He even enjoys them in cooked foods, such as home baked muffins, salads and curries. 

There are nine varieties of mangoes available to consumers in Australia with the overall season running from September to April. However the best time to eat mangoes (preferably leaning over the kitchen sink, sweet juices dripping) is during the hot Aussie summer months from December to February. 

Although this luscious and juicy dense-fleshed fruit has only recently appeared on the grocery shelves in smallish quantities, it was the first food item my son manage to zone in on when we dropped into the Norton Street Grocer in Leichhardt last weekend after his basketball game. 

I used the last two mangoes of the original four that I had purchased, to prepare this evening’s dinner of Mango Chicken Curry with Steamed Cinnamon Rice and finely diced cucumbers. This is a moreish and marvellously easy dish to prepare, even during the busy school and working week. All of the ingredients are readily available from major supermarkets in Australia. The flavours develop even further if prepared a day ahead, which makes it an ideal dish to batch cook, and then freeze or store in the fridge and reheat on those particularly chaotic nights.  

Mango Chicken Curry with Steamed Cinnamon Rice  to serve 5 people

First the rice…

I made this using a rice cooker. Place 3 – 4 cups of rice and the corresponding amount of water into the rice cooker. My Breville appliance takes equal quantities of rice and water, but check the instructions on your brand of rice cooker.

Add 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and half a cinnamon stick. 

Replace the lid and press ON. When read,  tip into a serving bowl and fluff up with a fork. 

Now for the curry…

30 g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 medium brown onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli – you can increase this if you want more of a kick in terms of heat. This amount will result in a tasty, mild curry.
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon sea salt
250 g plain yoghurt
125 ml water
2 very ripe mangoes diced into 2 cm pieces
4 large chicken breasts skin on, or 6 skinless, boned chicken thighs – diced into 2cm pieces.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot and add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.

Add all of the spices and cook over a low heat for another minute until fragrant. 

Add the tomato paste, sea salt and chicken and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium and move the chicken about the pan until it starts to turn a creamy opaque colour. This will take about 2 minutes. 

Add the yoghurt, water and 1 of the mangoes. Bring to the boil briefly, then reduce the heat to LOW and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Turn off the heat and stir through the pieces of the second mango. 

Serve with the rice and finely diced, chilled cucumbers.