Recipe for a Gobo inspired Mango salad. Gobo is a vegan restaurant that I fell in love with in NYC and this salad was the most memorable part of my meal.

Kesar variety of mangoes is one of my favourites. If there was a competition between Kesar and Alphonso, I would actually vote for the Kesar. It is sweetness personified and the fruits are long and graceful (no wonder, it is called the Queen of Mangoes in India) , almost lady like as against the short-stocky Alphonso. I know, I could just be e-murdered for voicing out my opinions like this – but hey, this is my space…. ha ha!

[Update from Feb 2017: My years in Bangalore have made me a Banganapalli convert. Sorry, Kesar!]

This season, when I ate an exceptionally tasty fruit, the thought of sticking it in the mud and growing my own tree lead me into doing just that. 3 weeks later, I saw the tiniest bit of green shoots coming out of the opened up seed and it was such joy to watch them grow

The photo shows a mango plant which is about 2-3 months old. Boy, the leaves are just as big as you would find on a big mango tree. When our under-construction house is ready, I plan to take it there and let the tree blossom there. It is to be seen if the Gujarati mango finds itself at home, down South. I’m not giving up hope anyway!

Inspiration for this recipe

Gobo is a vegan restaurant in NYC, located in both West Village and Upper East Side. It is tough to get a place to sit on most days. Once you are in, it is tough to get away from all the delicious, gorgeous food. You will be surprised that a vegan restaurant has such a roaring business! I had the good luck to be there in one of our partying weekends from Rochester in upstate New York. NYC was a 5-6 hour drive and we had a good friend living in the heart of Manhattan. It was always fun, trying out new dive bars, new places to eat and just walking about the streets.

[Feb 2017: Yelp tells me that Gobo in NYC has closed down]

When I tried out this salad, it had such simple flavours and ingredients, that I had to re-create it at home.

The original salad had loads of baby spinach, mango pieces, crispy onion slices and candied walnuts in a vinaigrette dressing. I replicated the same salad in a couple of weeks after we had visited Gobo, at a house party and the salad was a huge success. Since I don’t find baby spinach in Bombay, I prepare it using just mangoes. With a fruit like that, I dare say, we really don’t miss the spinach! In case you were wondering where I’m getting mangoes in the midst of monsoons, it is from our tree in the Madras house. My father-in-law tells me they are a cross between a Banganapalli and some other variety, giving it quite a fibrous, very sweet flesh.

More mango salads for you:

Mango and Red rice salad

Mango Tofu Vegan Lettuce Wraps

Mango and Grilled Paneer Salad

Love mangoes? Then don’t miss my collection of Mango Recipes.