The King of Fruits has arrived

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Mangoooooo….
“Where there is a Mango
It doesn’t take two to Tango”
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The King of Fruits has long arrived and will soon take leave when the monsoon sets in finally.
Past many centuries, it has ruled over many millions of hearts all across the globe, because of its unique taste and heavenly aroma. This rare fruit is mainly seen in the Indian Continent during summer and rakes in the mullah for horticulturists and farmers alike.
Aptly called the ‘Maharaja’; this fruit arrives in variant sects of its family. Payari, Langda, Hapus are some of its well known clan. The Alphonso is very popular and gets into business during spring time. Boxes are readied and staggering amounts of haystack collected into mounts of heaps are loaded in the farm trucks, before mangoes are bought in the market; where only the fine ones are chosen and packed to be sent worldwide. Thus, this fruit bears the reward to the labor done by hard working agriculturists fruitfully; and brings a smile on their faces and on all those who are eagerly awaiting to savor them.
When the monsoon sets in you will begin to see less of them; and lesser when heavy rains take over as the next of season to come. But don’t lose hope as this fruit is the only one that is awaited with rigor and baited breath for the next year; as it will arrive with much pomp and adoration.
To bid an early farewell with a mark of respect to the King; for its pleasurable palate that it serves us, I present two recipes as desserts that is made in every household during this season.

*****Mango Lassi.

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Preparation Time: 7 minutes
Take one mango peeled and sliced into small pieces.
Take some crushed ice cubes in mixer jar and add the mango slices to make its pulp. Do not add sugar if the mangoes are sweeeeet. Then add 1 cup of yoghurt and blend it again to get a thick flowing mixture. That’s it. Your Lassi is prepared in just 5 minutes.
Serving Method: Take a long glass and garnish it with fine pieces of pistachios , almonds and cashew nuts. Drink cold. It serves well in the heat of the season.

*****Mango Kulfi

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Preparation Method: Take two Alphonso mangoes peeled and sliced into small pieces to make mango pulp.
Take 1 litre of milk and condense it with ½ cup of sugar, then add ½ cup of cream on slow gas. Keep stirring intermittently so that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Do this for 25 minutes until the mixture transforms into a thick consistency.
Let it off the flame and allow to cool. After the mixture has cooled down, pour the pulp into it and blend it in the mixer. Now the new mixture will look yellow. So set it to freeze for minimum 4 hours into moulds of your choice, preferably a conical shape or a circular mould would do best. My advice: set it overnight for best results.
Serving Method: Take the moulds out of the fridge, dip them little in water and remove the kulfi carefully from the moulds into serving plates; garnish with fine pieces of pistachios , almonds and cashew nuts. It’s ready to eat – yummy delicious dessert!
This recipe serves six moulds for six people. Invite friends to share the remaining ones:)

Cheers!!

Akhani (Green Rice)

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green rice

Ingredients: Chicken ½ kg, Rice 1 kg, coriander and mint leaves, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, green chilies, garlic, ginger and salt.
Marinate the chicken well in advance; an hour before by adding hung curd, salt, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste and lemon juice. Leave it to rest with some mint leaves sprayed over it.
Preparation method: Soak the rice for half an hour. During this time, prepare dry masala for the green rice by pounding cumin seeds, black pepper, cinnamon stick. Remove from the mixer and blend fistful of fresh coriander and mint leaves, 4-5 green chilies and 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste. Just add a little bit of water to get a wet paste. Its consistency is not at all important. What counts is its green color ;) .
Take a deep vessel and heat 3 tbsp of oil. Sprinkle a few cardamoms and bay leaves, if you have to get an aromatic flavor to your dish. Now place the dry grind powder into the vessel; few seconds later, add the wet paste too. Wait till oil begins to leave the sides of the dish.
Place the chicken pieces into it and mix them carefully with the masala. After 5 minutes, pour the soaked rice inside the dish, then add 1 small glass of water and salt to taste.
 Remember this recipe is “dumpukht” meaning, cooked on slow-flame. Therefore,water is taken just about in required quantity; as this dish will be cooked on slow flame all the time. As you know the well-marinated chicken and rice that has already been soaked will aide the cooking process. And since the dish will be covered on slow heat; moisture will gather inside the vessel giving the ingredients the required amount of water for cooking.
 Cover the vessel with a lid and place a heavy object or pan over it, so that air does not leave out from the vessel. Alternatively, you can take dough meant for making bread; and place it covering the mouth of the vessel and the lid by binding them shut together.
 Cooking time is approximately 40 mins on slow flame.
A fresh natural aroma will filter in your kitchen and you’d know that the dish is done!!

crispy starter

To compliment Akhani/ Green Rice; deep fry any starter of your choice. Here, I have taken some crispy samosas with Chinese Manchurian filling (without Manchurian balls) ) and some yoghurt mixed with cucumber, onion, melon seeds and honey.
Take a bowl when the rice is cooked and serve hot garnished with mint leaves. Enjoy making this dish and serving it to your loved ones.