Ice-cream & Mangoes - King of desserts & King of fruits - Oh! what a succulent, sweet & delightful combo! Mango Ice-cream is creamy, luscious, delectable, refreshing, satisfying, delicious, heavenly, tempting - Think of any adjective and it fits it so well! I leave the rest to the pictures for I trust they can speak for themselves!!
"Our connection with food as both survival and comfort runs deep and from an early age. Thereafter the time we spend with our mother's cooking are precious and memorable, and meal times spent with family can be memorable and comforting. Then, of course there is the memory of our first bite of a ripe peach, freshly picked strawberry, a memory surely only nullified by our first kiss. It's only natural that we find love and comfort in the food we're given when we're together with others." Well said & beautifully written! [Courtesy: http://food.uk.msn.com/]
I have actually experienced this feeling in many occasions. Traditional recipes always takes me back to my childhood, helps me connect the recipe with mostly a person or an incident or the taste of the dish! If you are following my blog, you 'll know what I am talking about. When it comes to mangoes, it is always the taste that I remember! Summer time is the prime season for mangoes when you 'll get them in abundance. Malgova, Rumani, Banganapalli, Neelam, Alphonso - varieties galore! And quite frankly, I don't have any clue as to what varieties you get here in the US.
I don't know how, but my mom & dad always gets "best of the best" mangoes. They know how to pick the perfectly-ripened ones, how to pick the tastiest ones, how to distinguish original from duplicate/cross varieties and most importantly, how to bargain and get the best out of it.
Our house smells of mangoes during summer time and we get to eat mangoes almost everyday. And, that is something that I always cherish and that is one thing that I miss here in the US. If it is smaller varieties like rumani/neelam, we get to eat one full mango and we get "கதுப்பு" (a slice or two) for bigger varieties. It is such a fun to eat mangoes, especially the juicy ones, where you have to bite just the tip of the mango, crush the flesh inside and suck the juice out slowly without spilling, just like drinking juice from a bottle, and then finish the rest of the fruit. If you don't know the trick, you are definitely prone to spraying mango juice on you & around!
It's been 7-8 yrs since we moved to the US, but I didn't have the courage to buy fresh mangoes from the local grocers so far. Because, you smell mangoes near the stem to know if its ripe/over-ripe/under-ripe and I have never smelt anything, even closer to mangoes in local varieties here. Couple of times, I 've bought mangoes from "Whole Foods" but not as impressive as I 'd thought it would be. Only this year, I am buying a variety ('Haden', I think) from local Indian grocers and it is working out pretty well so far. My daughter jumps in joy if she spots mangoes in the grocery bag, but nothing close to my childhood experience!!
Basic Info
Complexity - SimplePrep time - 10 mins
Cook time - 8-10 hrs
Ingredients
Heavy cream - 1.5 cups
Milk - 1/2 cup (whole / skimmed)
Mango - 1 no (medium sized, ripe)
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (replace with regular sugar)
Salt - 1/8 tsp (optional)
Milk powder - 2 tbsp (optional)
Method
Scoop out the flesh from a medium sized ripe mango. Blend it into a puree without adding water. We are looking for a cup of mango puree approx.
Whip heavy cream just until it doubles. You do not want to whip it to stiff peaks. To this, add rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Deep freeze it until solid. Remove from freezer and blend it until smooth. Deep freeze and blend for one more time. Freeze it for 6-8 hours (or) overnight.
Scoop, Serve and Indulge! Yum!!
