Raw Mango & Bell Pepper Risotto

Our Sunday evening routine is simple. I ask the husband what he wants to eat, knowing fully well that the answer doesn’t change. Its always Lemon Rice and Curd Rice, both exactly the same way he likes to eat. If he is feeling magnanimous , he sometimes asks me to make my Huliogare, but that is a very rare case. So imagine how I must’ve grinned when he asked me to make anything I liked, but added the condition that he was in a mood for some rice. Oh yeah, rice it will be, I thought to myself as I grinned the evil grin, and went on to make this Risotto.

Technically, this is rice. And it has all the South Indian flavours too, the slight sweet and tart taste of the raw mangoes, the flavour of the bell peppers and enough spice to please a South Indian. So, I indeed cooked rice. ;-)

I got inspired by the latest issue of GoodFood for the flavour of this risotto. There is a very beautiful raw mango and fennel risotto there which is what I set out to make, to realize mid way that I stock the cheeses for this dish. So I changed this to suit what I had in hand.

You can change the flavours per your taste for this recipe, but stay with the raw mango. Trust me on this, its worth it. The tart taste of the mango pieces is totally a delight when you bite into them. I used cheddar cheese in this recipe, but I guess you can use any cheese you like. The idea is to make the risotto creamy.

Flavours inspired by – Raw Mango & Fennel Risotto from GoodFood, June, 2012 issue.

Ingredients [Serves 2 when served with bread]
For the rice -
Arborio rice – ½ C
Vegetable stock – 2 Cups
Salt & Pepper
Onions – ½ , diced
Garlic – 5 cloves, diced
Thyme – Dried, 2 Tsp
Olive oil – 1 Tbsp
Cheddar cheese – 1 slice

For the vegetables -
Raw mango – 1 C, diced
Bell peppers – red, green and yellow, ½ pepper each, finely diced
Onions – ½ , diced
Garlic – 5 cloves, diced
Salt & Pepper
Cheddar cheese – 1 slice

Instructions
Cook the rice like you would make risotto - In a deep pan, heat one half of the olive oil and sauté the onions and some garlic. Once they are softened, add the rice and sauté till the rice is covered with the oil. Add half a cup of the boiling water to this, mix and let it be on medium heat for 5 minutes. Once this water is absorbed by the rice, add some more water and let it be on heat for another 5 min till this water is absorbed too. Add salt to taste. Repeat this step 4-5 times, till the quantity of rice increases, rice is cooked but still does not resemble a pulp. Stir in the cheese . Close this pan and let this rice sit for 10 min.

To prepare the vegetables, in another pan, heat some olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic. Add the diced peppers, mango, salt and pepper to this, and let them cook on a low flame for 5-10 min.

Once the vegetables are cooked, stir in the cooked rice to this, add the remaining cheese and mix just enough.

Serve hot, with bread if required.