Chilli Salt Charred Mango Cheeks with Coconut Lime Yoghurt

Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 10 min | Cook: 6 min | Total: 16 min | Serves: 4 | Dietary: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

The first decent mangoes are hitting the shops, and this is what to do with them before you get bored and eat them over the sink. A properly hot pan turns the sugar on the cut face into real caramel, then Chooki's Chilli Chicken Salt lands on top and does the sweet, salty, hot thing that has you going back for another piece. Fifteen minutes, and most of that is waiting for the pan to heat up.

Step 1: Cut the cheeks

Stand each mango on its end and slice down either side of the flat stone to get two cheeks. Leave the skin on, it gives you something to hold onto. Score the flesh in a diamond pattern about a centimetre apart, cutting down to the skin but not through it. Pat the cut faces dry with paper towel. Wet fruit steams instead of charring.

Step 2: Char them

Get a heavy frying pan or a chargrill pan seriously hot over high heat. Brush the cut faces with the oil, lay them face down and then leave them alone for 3 minutes. Don't shuffle them around. Flip, give the skin side 2 to 3 minutes, and pull them off while the flesh still has some bite in it.

Step 3: Mix the coconut lime yoghurt

Stir the coconut yoghurt together with the lime zest and half the juice. Taste it. It wants to be sharp enough to cut through all that sweet mango, so tip in the rest of the juice if it needs it. Toast the coconut flakes in the same hot pan for about 30 seconds until they turn golden. They catch fast, so stand there and watch them.

Step 4: Build it

Spread the yoghurt over a board or a platter, sit the mango cheeks on top while they are still warm, then hit them with the Chilli Chicken Salt. Scatter the toasted coconut over and tear the mint on at the last second.

Tip: Season the mango after it comes off the heat, never before. Salt pulls moisture up to the surface and you lose the char you just worked for.