Easy Mango Ice cream

Of the few things to love about Summers is the availabilty of the king of fruits-the Majestic Mango. I absolutely adore mangoes and have a little weak heart for the variety which is interestingly called 'Langda' or 'Langra'. The origin of the name is debateful but it is believed that since most of the names are derived from the places of origin, it too could be named after a certain place called so. But, whats in a name. Langda has a distinct taste and even though it has a green skin which might trick you into feeling its not ripe, it is one of the most sweetest mangoes. 

Vaanya, my daughter, is a mango lover too. This season she has been wanting to eat the Langda over another sweet mango called Himsagar and has been relishing her Mango escapades with the oozing nectar and the consequent mess. 

A very ripe Langda in my fridge made me kick my lazy self and turn it into an easy mango ice cream which has been in my list for a long time. This is one super simple recipe, very much like the easy strawberry one I made. It is best to make it a night before and let it set in the freezer overnight and then relish it in the day. 

 Ingredients : 

• 3-4 tbsp condensed milk (adjust depending on the sweetness of your mangoes)
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and pureed( I used Langda variety of Mango)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup whipped cream(see notes)

Procedure : 

In a bowl, combine milkmaid, mango puree and milk. 

Fold in the whipped cream and pour in a freeze proof tin.

Allow to set in the freezer for 5-6 hours. Best is to leave overnight.

Take out and beat the mixture and allow to set again in the freezer. Repeat this 4-5 times to break the ice crystals. 

Scoop and serve.

Note:

• Take 1/4 cup of whipping cream and then whip it with a handheld beater till it gets thick and fluffy. 
• In case, you do not have condensed milk, add powdered sugar to the mango puree.
• Remember, this is a soft set variety of ice cream and therefore will not be as firm.

Happy Mango relishing

Amrita

Cherry Clafoutis

The markets have been flooded with cherries for a while and I have been wondering how to use them best, apart from eating. For a crazy baker like me, it is not best till they are used in a bake. And therefore the hunt began and I was amazed to find out that I had not yet tried this very simple but very famous French bake. 

Cherry Clafoutis or clafouti (kla-foo-tee) is basically a baked French dessert where cherries are arranged in a dish and covered with a pancake like batter. It is commonly eaten as breakfast too. 

Ideally the best variety of plump red cherries are used which are pitted and then tossed in a little butter and sugar.

The variety of cherries I got were definitely not the best and I had to spend some time pitting the seeds from them. But once that was done, the entire process was literally a cakewalk. 

Recipe adapted from : Joy of Baking

Ingredients : Serves 2

Batter : 

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk (full cream)
• 1/2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cherries : 

• 20-25 cherries, pitted
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

Procedure : 

Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius.

Take butter in a saucepan and add the pitted cherries to it. Sprinkle sugar and cook till the sugar melts. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Mix all purpose flour, sugar, egg, milk, butter and vanilla extract. 

Place cooked cherries in the tin of choice. I used my tart tins and covered the loose bottom with foil. You can use a ceramic ovenfree bowl too. 

Pour the prepared batter over the cherries and bake for 18-20 minutes or till the mixture has set. 

Serve with fresh cherries. 

Sending this recipe to KFB's ongoing event celebrating the Monsoons

Happy Clafouti baking

Amrita

Mango Phirni

I strongly believe in food being very inspirational. A sudden thought, a casual discussion, an image or even a remote one-word talk of food can really inspire us. It does to me, atleast. 

This recipe is purely an attempt because of the inspiration I got from my husbands casual visit with his friend who were catching up to devour some Eid delicacies. Vishal called me up to find out if I am interested to cook mutton as he was close to a meat shop waiting to relish on some Phirni. It was just this one word 'Phirni' that kept rolling in my head and for who's sake I refused to hear the word meat too. I kept the phone down and went on thinking of that sweet, earthy smelling, milky thick goodness that my husband and his friend were digging into. I refrained from calling him again and demanding my bowl of the heavenly sweet and thus decided to make my own. This silly little incident, you see, made me wake up from my lazy self and churn up this sweet delicacy. 

Since we still have mangoes lingering all around us, I decided to try a Mango phirni version making it all the more irresistible. I took my mothers help who shared her recipe of this rather simple, quite a cousin of kheer sweet. I fetched these typical earthen bowls meant specially to set Phirni which is easily available in the local markets. This gives that earthy beautiful aroma to the phirni. In case one does not get them, set your phirni in any normal bowl. 

The mango version was quite loved by my Sweet guru-my father who has an unmatched authority over everything sweet. But one bite into that earthy smelling, elaichi flavoured yummy normal Phirni satisfied my craving finally. 

Flavoured or simple, this recipe is super simple and a must if you have never tried. 

Ingredients : Serves 8-10

• 1 litre full fat milk
• 3tbsp rice (I used gobindabhog. You can use Basmati too)
• 3-4 tbsp sugar (depending on your taste)
• mango pulp from 1 mango, strained
• almonds, pista, chopped mango for garnishing

Procedure : 

Soak rice in water for half an hour.

Take milk in a heavy bottomed pan and let it come to a boil. Simmer and cook on low heat.

Meanwhile grind the soaked rice in a mixer. It will not become fine so a little coarse is alright. 

Add the ground rice to the milk and stir continuously. 

Slowly you will observe that the milk has thickened.

Add sugar to your liking and cook till it reaches the required thickness to set. 

This is the normal Phirni which can be set at this stage in bowls. Refrigerate and garnish with almonds, pista and elaichi powder.

For mango Phirni, once the thickened milk has cooled a little, add the mango pulp little by little and use as much as required. Too much addition will dilute the phirni consistency. In that case reduce it again on low heat. 

Set this in bowls and refrigerate. Garnish with chopped mango and pista. 

Happy Phirni Indulgence

Amrita

Mango Marvels-a workshop at Afraa Deli, Kolkata

Mango is truly the king of fruits. This gorgeous golden full-of-nectar fruit is awaited every Summer with baited breaths by most of us. I am no exception and so the mere name of Mango and a workshop with it made me jump on my feet and nag the not-such-a-mango loving husband to drive us to Afraa Deli, Salt lake on 12th of this month. The fact that I was just back from a horridly late train journey did not deter my love for the fruit.

Mango Marvels-the workshop was further special to us as it was the first of its kind in association with Kolkata Food Bloggers. A simple quiz was held on KFB page and the winners were invited to attend the workshop and get other goodies. 

We had the privilege to have Afraa Deli's Bakery and pastry chef Debopom Sinha guide us through the intricacies of some amazing and exotic desserts like Chocolate Mango Lava Cake, Red velvety Mango Mousse cake, Mango Pannacota with coconut jelly. His easy instructions and live demonstrations of minute details enriched us with recipes of some yummy mango delights. Their executive chef Dibyendu Ghosh was kind enough to sit through the entire session and help us learn from the one of its kind workshop.

The happy participants got to taste the unique Mango desserts in the end which are available at Afraa Deli's outlet for their ongoing Mango festival. Do make the most of them while the season lasts. 

Till then enjoy some glimpses of the fun we had:

Pastry chef Debopom Sinha

KFBian Urmi Ghosh

Hands on workshop

Mango Planter's Punch

Chocolate Mango Lava cake

Red Velvety Mango Mousse Cake and Mango Pannacota with Coconut jelly