This recipe is as much about my Malaysian heritage as it is a celebration of Christmas in Australia. Like Australia, Malaysia is warm and sunny in December, and mangoes and chillies are plentiful. In south-east Asia mangoes and chillies are frequently teamed in savoury dishes. This is how the delicious glaze with rum and local honey was born. In Malaysia, we serve ham with salads and a host of condiments. I believe this tomato and mango sambal is the perfect accompaniment.

Mango and chilli-glazed Christmas ham

INGREDIENTS

• 1 free-range leg ham, about 9kg
• whole cloves for studding

Mango-chilli glaze

• 1 large mango (about 600g), peeled and chopped
• 1 fresh red cayenne chilli, chopped
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ cup white wine or water
• 2 tbsp dark rum
• 1 tbsp honey or to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
2. Put glaze ingredients in a jug and blitz with a hand-held blender until smooth. Set aside.
3. Remove the ham skin and score the surface of the ham fat into a diamond pattern using a small knife. Do not cut into the meat. Stud a clove into the middle of each diamond. Brush the mango-chilli glaze generously over the ham. Place ham in a roasting dish and pour over any remaining glaze.
4. Roast ham on lowest shelf of oven for about 1½ hours, basting occasionally with the glaze in the roasting dish until the glaze is lightly caramelised. Using a meat thermometer, test that the internal temperature has reached 65C.
5. When the ham has warmed through, remove from the oven and rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving hot. Or allow to come back to room temperature. Serve with tomato and mango sambal.

Serves 12-18

Tomato and mango sambal (relish)

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg tomatoes, sliced
• 2 mangoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp sugar
• salt and pepper
• chopped coriander to garnish

METHOD

1. Toss all the ingredients together gently in a bowl and set aside for 15 minutes. Just before serving, add chopped coriander.

Serves 12-18 as a side dish

This recipe features in Good Food Christmas, screening on Channel 9 at 5.30pm on Saturday, December 4, or catch up on 9Now.