Mango Madness: Sweet Recipes From One Wholesome Meal

Hands up if mangoes are your favourite fruit!

Mangoes are definitely the flavour of summer. Not only do they taste great, but they are also loaded with health benefits. Their high content of vitamin C, antioxidants and folate make them the perfect fruit to start your day with, snack on or even indulge your sweet tooth with!  So, here are some super simple recipes which you can put together using this tropical fruit.

Read more: Easy Dessert Recipes From One Wholesome Meal

Aam is Hindi for mango and that is how this dish gets its name. Thick yoghurt (hung curd) and mango purée come together to create this perfect summer dessert.

If you are using regular yoghurt, make sure to tie it in a cheesecloth and place it in a strainer over a bowl and refrigerate overnight. This will help to drain excess water. A quicker alternative would be to use plain Greek yoghurt. In that case, place the yoghurt in muslin and let it hang for 30 to 45 minutes to remove excess water.

Ingredients:
2 cups hung curd or Greek yoghurt (water drained completely)
1 cup puréed mango
1 tbsp brown sugar (or less if your mangoes are super sweet)
3-4 strands of saffron, steeped in 1 tbsp warm milk
¼ tsp freshly ground cardamom powder
Slivered pistachios or almonds, and mango cubes for garnish

Method:

1. Place the hung curd and puréed mangoes in a deep bowl. Blend at a low speed using a hand blender or a regular whisk.
2. Add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron steeped in milk (including the milk) and mix well.
3. Spoon the mixture into serving bowls (small shot glasses work well here) and refrigerate for an hour or two.
4. Garnish with chopped nuts and mango cubes and serve chilled.

Useful tips:

• Fresh Alphonso mangoes work best for this recipe, but feel free to use mango pulp. If using latter, discard the water and use just the pulp.
• Honey works great as a sweetener instead of brown sugar, but it does alter the taste of the final dish.
• Using coconut Greek yoghurt adds an interesting dimension to the dish.

Growing up in India, mango milkshakes were a staple summer afternoon snack when we returned from school. However, when I moved to Hong Kong, I realised it was not that well known outside my home country. So, here I am sharing my favourite mango shake recipe, just like Mum made it!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (regular dairy or your choice of oat, almond, soy etc.)
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
2 medium mangoes, pulped
3 to 4 strands of saffron, steeped in 1 tbsp warm milk
Chopped nuts (optional)
Sweetener of choice (optional) 

Method:

1. In a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients till smooth.
2. Garnish with some chopped nuts if desired and serve chilled.
3. You could add ice cubes if desired.

Useful tips:

• One again, fresh Alphonso mangoes work best for this recipe but feel free to use mango pulp. If using the latter, discard the water and use just the pulp.
• If using vanilla ice cream, you do not need to add sweetener as both the ice cream and mango should be sweet enough
• You can substitute ice cream with a cup of milk. Ice cream makes the shake creamier and luscious, but the taste of the shake is predominantly determined by the quality and kind of mango pulp used.

I have saved the best for the last. Not only are these Man-Co (mango+coconut) pots vegan, they are also extremely easy to put together. So a perfect dessert for your next gathering!

For the uninitiated, Thandai is a nut and spice mix commonly used in Northern India during peak summers to beat the heat. 

Ingredients:

4 tbsp Thandai powder (to make yours in less than five minutes, click here)
250ml coconut milk (refrigerate overnight to separate the milk from the cream)
1 medium mango, cubed
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp dried rose petals for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Chill a deep bowl (preferably steel) in the freezer for half an hour.
2. Spoon the coconut cream (discarding the coconut milk) into the steel bowl and to it add sugar and pure vanilla extract.
3. Whip with a hand blender till stiff peaks form, then spoon it into your desired serving bowls.
4. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours then sprinkle generously (approximately 1.5 to 2 tsp) with the Thandai powder, spoon over the mangoes and garnish with dried rose petals if using.
5. Serve chilled.

Useful tips:

• This recipe will not work with low-fat coconut milk.
• Watch this video to learn how to whip coconut milk well.
• Chilling your bowl in the freezer is an important step before whipping, so don’t skip this stage.
• If you do not have dried rose petals handy, add some chopped mint leaves.