Mahanandi

Promise of Sweet Sunshine ~ for Mango Manthram

Have you ever gone shopping for mangoes wearing a sweater and a scarf? It sounds funny to imagine, but that’s what I did last week. In Seattle, temperatures are trying to reach respectable levels, but the chill and the spring showers are dominating the dress choice. Mangoes are essentially summer fruits and thanks to Asian imports, the local grocery shops have some good quality fruits in stock. These golden yellow mangoes were priced at $1.50 each. I had to experience the sweet sunshine they would deliver.

Green, Unripe Mango and Vadu Mango ~ For this Week’s Indian Kitchen

~ Indira

Strawberry mango scones are crisp outside and crumbly and soft inside. What makes them stand out is the flavor combination of sweet and tart in the same bite. This dessert is delicious, attractive and easy to prepare. Don’t fear the fancy title, scones are nothing but freeform style baked cakes.

Recipe:

All purpose flour : 2 cups
Sugar : 4 tablespoons
Salt : ½ teaspoon
Baking powder : 2 teaspoons
Baking soda : ¼ teaspoon
Cold and solid butter : 3 tablespoons, finely chopped
Wet Ingredients
Firm and fresh Strawberries : 1 cup, chopped
Dried mango : ¼ cup finely sliced
Yogurt : ½ to 1 cup of fresh yogurt
Lemon glaze
Lime juice - ¼ cup and sugar- 2 tablespoons. Bring them to a boil in a small saucepan and let the juice thicken a bit - lemon glaze is ready. (Prepare this while baking the scones.)

In a mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder and soda. Stir in sugar and salt. Add and mix the finely chopped butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

To this flour mixture, add strawberries and dried mango pieces. Add the yogurt gradually and mix to form tight, sticky dough. Gently knead the dough for 2 minutes, take care not to break and bleed the strawberries.

Turn the dough out onto a floured or parchment covered baking sheet and press out into a big round with a thickness of half to one inch. (This is the messy and sticky part. Apply oil or ghee to the rolling pin or use flour to prevent dough from sticking. )

Preheat the oven to 425?F. When the oven is ready, place the baking sheet and bake. The dough will puff up and increase in volume. Bake until golden brown, for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and drizzle the lemon glaze on top. Let it cool a bit, and slice into 6 to 8 triangle slices. Serve warm and enjoy.

Dough ready for baking

Golden and Glazed

Berry Good Treat ~ Strawberry Mango Scones
For JFI-Strawberries Event, Hosted by Pastry Chef and Baker, the lovely Baking Fairy

Recipe Adapted from Foodblog - “Delicious!Delicious!”
Dried mango Source: Indian grocery shops.
Flour Choice: King Arthur brand All Purpose Flour

Mango and Strawberry - The King and Queen of Fruit Kingdom

RP of ‘My Workshop’ commented that if mango was the king of the fruits, strawberry could be the queen of fruit kingdom. Very true, indeed. The kind of fervor we, Indians, reserve for mangoes is often shown for strawberries by the people here in the States. Romance, weddings and any special occasions of life… there come the strawberries.

The delicate ruby red beauties, the queens of berries, strawberries are high maintaince as queens should be. They don’t like to be crammed and they need a certain temperature for their beauty regime. If it is too hot, they will get spoiled within a day. Too cold, their flavor becomes elusive. Divas and prima donnas, with a mind of their own, they are the attention grabbers. Color, shape and smell… nothing subtle about them, except may be their sweet flavor. Though looks red and bulky, the supermarket variety is more tart than sweet. One has to have a taste of Indian mangoes to know how good mangoes are. Just like mangoes, one must taste freshly picked strawberries from farms or from open meadows to really know how good they are to understand the reason for fervor. Fortunate are those, who have tasted the real things in this life.

Here is a recipe showcasing them both - popsicles or ice pops of mango and strawberries.

Mango and strawberries with little bit of limejuice and little bit of sugar - blend, pour and freeze - homemade popsicles for hot summer days would be ready. Who doesn’t have memories of hot summer days and colorful popsicles?

Recipe:

2 mangoes - peeled, cut and seed removed, finely cubed
15 to 20 strawberries - stems removed and cut into half
Sugar to taste
2 tablespoons of limejuice
****
Blender
Popsicle mold with sticks or popsicle sticks and small cups
Refrigerator

1 Prepare Mango Juice: Take mango cubes in a blender. Add a tablespoon of sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of mangoes) and a tablespoon of limejuice and blend into smooth puree.

2 Prepare Strawberry Juice: Take strawberries in a blender. Add a tablespoon of sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of strawberries) and a tablespoon of limejuice and blend into smooth puree.

3 Making Popsicles: Pour the juice into popsicles mold or small cups in a tray. You can prepare at least 4 different types of ice pops with these two juices. Plain strawberry, plain mango, mango (bottom half)-strawberry (top half) and strawberry (bottom half)-mango (top half) combinations. If you are using the cups, then place popsicle sticks into cups. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

4 Popsicle time: Place the tray in hot water for few seconds and pull out the pops from the molds or cups. Enjoy!

Saying Goodbye to Mango Month and Welcoming the Strawberry Month with Mango-Strawberry Popsicle

Strawberry Popsicle for JFI~Strawberries

Manasa of San Jose, CA, a reader of this blog, sent me “Mango Shrikhand” recipe along with photo for JFI-Mango event. She wrote to me:

“I make Mango Shrikhand quite frequently and when I saw the “Jihva for Mangoes” event on Mahanandi, it occurred to me that I should also share this with everyone. This is one of my well tried out recipes. My whole family loves it. I even make it sugar-free (replace sugar with splenda and it still tastes fantastic).”

Manasa’s Recipe For Mango Shrikhand:
(to serve 2-4 people)

Mango pulp (sweetened kesar mango pulp) � ½ cup
Plain yogurt - 1 cup
Sour Cream (low-fat is good too) - 1 cup
Finely chopped walnuts and cashews - ½ cup (together)
Sugar (or Splenda) - ½ cup
(Less sugar is okay as the dish gets sweetened from Mango)
Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
Saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk - a pinch.

1. Drain the water from the yogurt by tying it in a soft muslin cloth and hang it over the sink for at least 2 hrs.
2. Once all the water is drained from the yogurt, it automatically gets a creamy texture.
3. Mix the yogurt and sour cream thoroughly in a serving dish.
4. Mix in the mango pulp and sugar.
5. Check the sweetness and the flavor; add more sugar or mango pulp if needed.
6. Ensure that the texture of the dish remains creamy and not watery.
7. Mix in the chopped nuts, cardamom powder, and soaked saffron along with the 2 tbsp milk.
8. After mixing thoroughly, chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving.

Mango Shrikhand (Aamrakhand) By Manasa

Thanks Manasa for taking part in JFI-Mango event and for this fabulous mango dessert recipe.

“Salsa is a combination of raw, cooked, or partially cooked ingredients that are blended but not cooked together,” says Mark Miller, author of “The Great Salsa Book.” The ideal salsa is balanced, he adds. “Salsa ingredients are like notes you can hear distinctly…. Nothing should dominate too much; accents are fine, but avoid extreme accents.”

Inspired by Cinco de Mayo festival celebrations last weekend, I’ve prepared a Mexican mango salsa following the traditional mango salsa recipe. But I’ve replaced the black beans with grilled fresh corn. Striking colors and exotic flavor blends of mango, corn, chillies make this salsa a dramatic dish to behold and to taste.

Recipe:

1 ripe mango - peeled and finely cubed
1 fresh corn - grilled and the kernels sliced
1 medium red onion or shallot - finely chopped (and washed in water)
2 to 4 green chillies - minced
Few sprigs of cilantro - finely chopped
1 lime - juice squeezed and
¼ teaspoon of salt or to taste

Toss them together and serve with tortilla (corn flour) chips.

Mango Salsa, Corn Chips and Cumin-Salt Flavored Lemon Soda
A Refreshing Snack for Stephanie’s Garden Party

Salsa quote: Source