Grilled Lime-Curry-Rubbed Hanger Steak with Fresh Melon-Cucumber Chutney

Since we just had Korean Bulgogi Tacos (Alex had them for dinner on Saturday and I had the leftovers today for lunch), it seemed a little weird to make steak tacos, which is what I usually do with hanger steak.  My other initial thought was to make a traditional French hanger steak with a shallot sauce (aka onglet aux echalottes).  But I decided that sounded boring.  Then I saw this recipe from Gourmet, which sounded really interesting and not at all boring.  So we went for this one.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the individual components when I first tasted them.  The lime-curry rub is quite intense.  Delicious, but I wasn't sure that I could eat an entire steak rubbed in it.  And the chutney was good, but on its own it felt like it was missing something.  I thought about adding more jalapeno and more spices, but I wanted to wait and see how the steak tasted before doing so.  I'm glad I did wait because when you put them together the sweetness and freshness of the chutney really complements the intense curry and lime flavor of the hanger steak.  And the rice soaks up the juices from the steak, combined with the juices of the chutney.  It's a really fresh, flavorful and savory dish.  I actually started thinking about what other types of dishes the chutney would work with.  And the success of this dish made me even more interested in a recipe for Jamaican Jerk Salmon and Mango Pineapple Salsa that I recently saw in the April issue of SELF.  I think both recipes share a similar combination of a sweet fruit salsa/chutney with an intensely flavorful protein.  Hopefully that recipe turns out as well as this one did.

Recipe after the jump!

Grilled Lime-Curry-Rubbed Hanger Steak with Fresh Melon-Cucumber Chutney

Adapted from Gourmet

June 2009

INGREDIENTS:

For chutney:

2 cups firm-ripe honeydew melon, finely chopped

3/4 cup seedless cucumber, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped (we had to use shallots because we were out of red onions)

4 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 tbsp jalapeno, minced (including seeds)

kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cumin

For steak:

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp curry powder

2 lbs hanger steak

Stir together honeydew, cucumber, onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeño, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle with spices and let chutney stand while grilling steak.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.

Stir together lime juice, oil, curry powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Coat steak with curry mixture.

Lightly oil grill pan, then cook steak, turning once, 6 minutes total for medium-rare. Let rest on a cutting board 5 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain. Serve steak with chutney.

Serve steak with chutney and basmati rice.