The king of fruits

(This is my entry for the AFAM event started by Maheshwari and hosted this month by Deepa. The fruit this month is Mango.)

Mango is called the “King of fruits” with good reason. Every year, Indians wait for summer and the arrival of mangoes. No other fruit compares in taste and sweetness with mangoes. Famous varieties of mangoes include Himsagar, Alphanso, and Varanasi mangoes.

“Strip” was what my mom would say to my little brother when we were kids. He used to peel the fruit and suck the pulp. He used to eat mangoes in such a fashion that he would end up getting the pulp on his hands, legs, and chest. So, rather than spend her valuable minutes washing his clothes, mom would make him eat mangoes shirt-less. I would prefer cutting and eating the fruit. We used to buy mangoes by the dozen or sometimes buy the “peti” or box containing 3 dozen mangoes. A popular Sunday lunch in our house in the summer would be Amras-Puri. Dad would sit with a huge vessel and patiently take out the mango pulp. To this, we would add some sugar and enjoy with hot puris. Ooh, those days of eating endless mangoes. We used to bid farewell to mangoes in the same way as we do for Lord Ganesha by saying “Pudhchya varshi lavkar ya (Come soon the next year)”

In US, I have seen mangoes in couple of Indian shops. But they are still green. For the AFAM event, I picked up a can of sliced mangoes from the store. Here are two recipes featuring the king of fruits.

Mango Burfi

(Adapted from this recipe)
Makes: 7-8 barfis
Making level: Easy
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1.1 cup mango pulp
2.1/2 cup sugar
3.¼ cup ghee (butter)
4.7-8 cashewnuts – chopped into pieces
5.½ tsp cardamom powder
6.5-6 strands of saffron

Method
1.Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Add the cashew nuts and fry till golden.
2.Heat a non-stick pot over medium heat. Add the mango pulp and stir.
3.As the pulp starts boiling, add the sugar and mix well.
4.Add the cashew pieces. Keep stirring as this mixture starts to thicken. Next, add the cardamom powder and saffron.
5.Add ghee in small amounts and keep stirring continuously. When mixture starts leaving sides of the vessel, remove from fire and pour it onto a greased plate.
6.Let the mixture cool completely. Cut into squares or diamonds.

Mango Lassi

Makes: 1 glass
Drink making level: Super easy
Preparation time: 5 minutes

To make the lassi:
1.Mix together ¼ cup mango pulp, 1/4 cup yoghurt (curd), 2 tsp sugar, ¼ cup water, ¼ tsp cardamom powder in the blender. Blend till smooth.
2.Add 1-2 ice-cubes. Garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Verdict: I think I should have heating the mango barfi mixture for more time. It was a little bit jelly-like than a hard barfi. The barfis tasted great and looked inviting with cashew pieces embedded in them.
The mango lassi was totally refreshing. While making the lassi, I had no idea it would turn out so good. Unfortunately, I had less mango pulp remaining, resulting in a single glass. I and P were left snatching the glass from each other, taking turns to sip the lassi.

These two go to Deepa as my entries for AFAM-Mango. Deepa, everytime I visited your blog, that countdown meter reminded me how late I was in submitting the entries:)