Acid. It’s what Thanksgiving is missing, and what it needs—just think of all the people who come to your dinner table with a wider palate than what turkey and potatoes can provide. These dishes aren’t exactly known for spice, brightness, and heat. Many cultures solve for this problem with relishes, salsas, or chutneys, and there’s no good reason you can’t use them at your holiday table.
The three condiments I’ll talk about below—mint cilantro chutney, spicy chili crisp, and pineapple mango salsa—aren’t just make-ahead, they often get better after a day or two. They don’t take up much space (on the plate or in your stomach), and they’re completely optional if some of your guests don’t like the extra kick. They offer an easy way to let them customize their meals, and the best part is, you don’t have to choose which one you make—any or all of them could easily live side-by-side on your table.
Mint cilantro chutney
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The green chutney you dip your naan into, and slather on your tandoori has a name: Dhaniya Pudhina Chutney. Mint and cilantro are the key players in this fresh, raw combination. You throw all the ingredients in your blender, and what comes out holds together beautifully. You can even decide how much heat you want to add. Tamarind juice lends some sweetness, though you can use lime juice in a pinch; you’ll get added depth from the roasted cumin and ginger. Imagining a bit of this on a bite of turkey makes my mouth happy—the complexity of the spice will surely elevate the meat.
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cilantro including stems
- 1 cup mint leaves (spearmint or another spicy mint)
- A one inch knob of ginger, peeled
- 3 medium sized cloves of garlic, peeled
- 3 tablespoons of cumin seed
- 2 tablespoons tamarind juice or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1-2 green peppers, choose based on the heat level you’d like. Jalapenos for hotter, Italian peppers for milder
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup of water
What to do
- Add the cumin seeds to a skillet over a medium low heat, and keep moving the pan as the seeds heat up. Continue doing so until you smell the cumin, which means it’s roasting. Continue moving the pan around so the seeds don’t burn, for another minute, and then remove from the heat.
- Chop the peppers, removing the stems and seeds.
- Add the cilantro, mint, ginger, garlic, cumin, peppers and juice to the blender. Pulse the blender until you achieve a smooth paste. Add the honey and blend again.
- Add water, a tablespoon or two at a time, until you achieve the consistency you want.
- Season to taste with salt.
Spicy chili crisp
If spicy isn’t your thing, then this may sound like hell, but different chili crisps have grown in popularity recently for a reason—chili crisp offers heat to a dish, sure, but also subtle layers. Using different chilis, shallots, peppercorn and garlic, and allowing them to crisp up in the oil, allows the sharpness of each to mellow out so they all meld together. Because chilis, like your relatives, aren’t all fiery. (They each have complex flavor profiles, so choose yours carefully…the peppers, not your in-laws.) A spoonful of crunchy texture and heat married to sweet potatoes or turkey will bring a new level of flavor to the table.
While the best chili crisp is the one you buy in the sauce aisle of an Asian market, you can make this excellent A.A. Newton recipe as well.
Pineapple mango salsa
If it feels weird to bring these out of season fruits to a harvest table, think again. There’s already a lot of sweetness to Thanksgiving—in the pie, the sweet potatoes, the stuffing, the drinks. A chunky, acidic, sweet salsa will brighten up a bite of turkey or roasted vegetables, and no churrasco would be complete without a fruity, bright addition like Salsa de Piña (pineapple salsa) to bring the flavors together. Your palate will appreciate the respite during the heavy meal.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of cored, fresh pineapple
- 1 mango
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons of pickled red onion, or 1 shallot if you don’t have picked red onion
- 1 handful of fresh cilantro, including stems
- 4 limes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
What to do
- Chop the pineapple, mango and bell pepper to the same size, a small chop, but not a dice. If you’re using red onion, chop it to the same size.
- If using shallots, dice them or slice them very thinly and add to the vegetables.
- Rough chop the cilantro, including the stems and add to the rest.
- Microwave the limes for twenty seconds and then juice them into the vegetables, being sure not to drop any seeds in. Add the olive oil, and stir well.
- Salt and pepper to taste, and allow to sit at room temperature at least four hours before serving. Taste again before serving, and adjust salt if needed.