mango madness
it is the season for mangoes. say the words 'india' and 'summers' and the first thing that comes to my mind is mangoes. don't you just love the word? say mannngoooooooooes. ripe, juicy, pulpy, gooey, smothered in ice cream, whisked into delectable shakes early in the morning or sour unripe mangoes crushed to make aam panna or my beautiful mango chutneys.. sigh. i love the summers.
two of my favourite varieties at bangalore. mallika (a hybrid of neelam x my perennial favourite dashehari) and banganpalli. plus look at that elegant display at the local farmers market.
to romance the mango properly, one ought to sit down with a tub of cooled mangoes on a hot afternoon and eat until you couldn't down another bite. heh. else savour my mango kulfi. to thickened milk i added milk fat (khoya), crushed almonds and fine ground green cardamom while stirring it lovingly over a low flame. then pureed over-ripe mangoes and added to the thickened mix. a generous bit of sugar, a dash of saffron and i was done. shame i had no kulfi moulds. so off it went into a pyrex bowl. the trick to making sumptuous kulfi is to avoid ice crystals. how? simply keep the kulfi air tight in the freezer and when it is ready to set, take it out once or twice and stir it vigorously. then hop around in impatience until it is done. i've made kulfi twice this season and i intend to make it again this sunday. it is the simplest, creamiest most mango-ish dessert ever! oh btw, i also made a mango cake. i was inordinately busy with house-guests but the lone picture of my cake looks festive enough. too colourful by half :-).
mango kulfi (clockwise) & my mango cake.
two of my favourite varieties at bangalore. mallika (a hybrid of neelam x my perennial favourite dashehari) and banganpalli. plus look at that elegant display at the local farmers market.
to romance the mango properly, one ought to sit down with a tub of cooled mangoes on a hot afternoon and eat until you couldn't down another bite. heh. else savour my mango kulfi. to thickened milk i added milk fat (khoya), crushed almonds and fine ground green cardamom while stirring it lovingly over a low flame. then pureed over-ripe mangoes and added to the thickened mix. a generous bit of sugar, a dash of saffron and i was done. shame i had no kulfi moulds. so off it went into a pyrex bowl. the trick to making sumptuous kulfi is to avoid ice crystals. how? simply keep the kulfi air tight in the freezer and when it is ready to set, take it out once or twice and stir it vigorously. then hop around in impatience until it is done. i've made kulfi twice this season and i intend to make it again this sunday. it is the simplest, creamiest most mango-ish dessert ever! oh btw, i also made a mango cake. i was inordinately busy with house-guests but the lone picture of my cake looks festive enough. too colourful by half :-).
mango kulfi (clockwise) & my mango cake.