Chicken Salad With Mango Chutney and Pistachios

If you think chicken salad is boring, you haven’t had good chicken salad. Here in Oxford, Mississippi, the perfect chicken salad is actually a subject of impassioned debate. Many locals swear by the original recipe of Angelo Mistilis, a local restaurateur who was recognized as the “chicken salad man” long after his retirement. (He passed in 2021.) His version is still sold in half-​pint and pint tubs at Lindsey’s Chevron gas station on the north side of the downtown Square, alongside sleeves of Ritz and saltine crackers for a do-​it-​yourself lunch.

I’ve adapted this recipe from my good friend Victoria Pesce Elliott, who lives in Florida. She is lucky enough to have her own mango trees, so she makes her own mango chutney and adds diced fresh mango to her chicken salad when the fruit is in season. At home in Mississippi, I rarely have access to good, fresh mangoes, but luckily store-​bought mango chutney works almost as well. (Note that Major Grey’s is a style of chutney. Many brands are available; I like Patak’s. It is widely available in supermarkets, usually shelved near the relishes and other condiments.) I’m partial to the flavor and texture that toasted, salted pistachios provide, but cashews or almonds would be a good substitute. Serve the chicken salad chilled or at room temperature with crackers, on a sandwich, or atop a bed of lettuce.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘I Am From Here’ by Vishwesh Bhatt. Buy the full book on Amazon.