DELICIOUS MANGO RECIPES

 DELICIOUS MANGO RECIPES

I hope many of you would have gone through my last blog post:  Delicious Raw Mango Recipes

There are so many varieties of mangoes available in India that there is always an argument as to which is the best/tastiest of the lot. Lovers of each variety swear their choice is the best. Some of the best rated and hence highly popular varieties are : Alphonso, Kesar, and Dashehari.

Apart from using raw mangoes in our cooking, we in India make extensive use of the ripe mango as well. In today's post, I will share the recipes for some of my favourite dishes using ripe mangoes.

1. Mango Mastani: a rich mango milkshake topped with vanilla ice cream  https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2017/05/mango-mastani.html

2. Mango and Sago Pudding: a delicious dessert made with ripe mangoes and sago (tapioca) pearls

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2016/05/mango-sago-pudding.html

3. Mango Phirni: a rich dessert from North India made with ripe mangoes.   

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2015/06/mango-phirni.html

4. Mango Sheera: a dessert made with ripe mangoes and semolina.

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2016/05/mango-sheera.html

5. Aamras : a dish made with the pulp of ripe mangoes, served with puris in Maharashtra. Also served as a dessert. 

https://www.cookingwithshobana.com/2013/05/aamras-mango-dessert.html

 The sweetness of each dish will depend on the inherent sweetness of the mango you use  as well as your individual taste. 

I hope you will enjoy these dishes as much as I do! 

GULACHA SHEERA

 GULACHA SHEERA

Today's recipe is called Gulacha Sheera and is popular in Maharashtra. Apart from loving the taste of this dessert, I like the fact that we use  jaggery to make it. Jaggery gives the dish adequate sweetness and is a more healthy option than using sugar which is normally used to make sheeras.

Over the last few years, I have consciously tried to use jaggery instead of sugar. This article in The Times of India details the benefits of jaggery over sugar in our diets. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find other dishes in which we use jaggery such as:-

• Peanut Sesame Ladoo
• Ponsa Polo, Jackfruit Dosa
• Godu Phovu
• Godu (Sweet) Appo 

I made this recently as neivedhya for Varamahalakshmi festival . Please try out this Gulacha Sheera and I am sure you will enjoy it! 

Ingredients:-

• Rava/ Semolina, 3/4 cup
• Jaggery, grated, 1/2 cup, or to taste
• Warm Water, 1 and 1/2 cups 
• Ghee, 2 and 1/2 tbsp
• Cashewnuts, broken into pieces, 1 tbsp
• Raisins, 1 tbsp
• Cardamoms 2-3, made into a powder

Method:-

Dissolve the grated jaggery in 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water. Heat if required for it to dissolve completely. Keep aside. 

Peel the cardamoms and crush them to a powder. Keep aside.

Heat a thick bottomed pan and on medium heat add 1/2 tbsp of ghee. Roast the broken cashewnuts till they turn slightly golden. Keep aside

Next add the raisins and fry till they puff up. Keep aside. 

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the rava on medium heat stirring constantly till it gives off a good aroma and turns slightly golden in colour

To this add the jaggery water and mix well taking care that there are no lumps

Cook till the rava gets done and the excess water gets absorbed, stirring constantly 

Now add 1 tbsp of ghee, roasted cashewnuts, roasted raisins and cardamom powder and mix well

Continue to stir till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball

Apply some ghee  to the insides of a bowl. Transfer the Gulacha Sheera to this bowl. 

Garnish with raisins or nuts as you wish 

MANGO SHEERA

MANGO SHEERA

Sheera is an Indian sweet/dessert primarily made of semolina, which is called rawa or sooji commonly in India. This can be made relatively easily and in quick time as it does not call for much preparation.

You will find elsewhere in this blog the recipe for Sheera. There are different variants of sheera such as Pineapple Sheera, Banana Sheera etc.  Today I share how I make Mango Sheera since we still get plenty of good quality mangoes here in Bengaluru, India where I live. It is advisable to use mangoes of a better quality such as Alphonso, and Badami which are more sweet, lend a good colour to the dish and are not fibrous.

While rawa/sooji is available in different varieties, I prefer to use what we call "medium rawa "( rather than the "fine" rawa) as this gives a better texture to the sheera. The amount of sugar you use will depend on the sweetness of the mango, and your individual taste.

I have suggested 1 large sized mango which is adequate to make 1/2 cup of mango puree required for the sheera with the remaining mango pieces used to garnish the dish. I have chosen to make a mango rosette to garnish today's post. As another option, you can garnish the dish with cashewnuts and raisins lightly roasted in a little ghee.

Ingredients:

• Mango, large-sized, 1 or 1/2 cup of Mango Puree
• Semolina (Rawa/Sooji), medium variety, 1 cup
• Sugar, 3/4 cup
• Milk, 3/4 cup
• Water, 3/4 cup
• Ghee, 2-3 tbsp
• Saffron, a few strands
• Mango pieces, a few, or Mango Rosette for garnish OR Cashewnuts (1 tbsp chopped) and Raisins, a few, for garnish

Method

Wash, peel and chop the mango and prepare a puree. Keep aside.
In a vessel, heat the milk and water and keep aside 
Soak a few strands of saffron in a little milk and keep aside

In a thick bottomed non-stick kadai, heat 1 tbsp of ghee on medium heat 

Add the semolina and stirring continuously, roast it for about 6-7 minutes till it gives off a nice aroma 
Add the mixture of milk and water, mix well and cook the rava till it is done, taking care that no lumps are formed
Next add the sugar, the mango puree, saffron soaked in milk, and the remaining ghee and mix well
Continue to stir till the liquids evaporate and the sheera leaves the sides of the kadai
Transfer the sheera to a greased bowl and later de-mould by turning it upside down
Lastly, garnish with mango pieces or mango rosette or roasted cashewnuts and raisins, as per your choice.

SHEERA

SHEERA 

Sheera (this is what we call this rava/semolina halwa in Konkani) is commonly made for festivals and offered as prasad. I made this yesterday on the occasion of Varamahalakshmi Puja. There are different variations of sheera. For example, you could add milk, as well as water. You could also add fruits, such as mango, banana or pineapple. Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipe for Mango Sheera. 

Sheera, (or its equivalents like "Kesari Bath") served in restaurants come with lots of ghee oozing out. Being more health conscious, I have used limited quantity of ghee. 

I have given the recipe below for the sheera in its simplest form, which while being very tasty, is both easy to make and can be made in a jiffy!

Ingredients:

• Semolina ( Medium Rava), 1 cup
• Ghee, 2-3 tbsp
• Sugar, 1 cup
• Warm Water, 2 cups
• Cashew nuts, 1 tbsp, chopped 
• Cardamom powder, 1/2 tsp

Method

In a thick bottomed non-stick kadai, heat the ghee on medium heat 

Lightly roast the cashew nuts, and keep aside

Next, add the rava and stirring continuously, roast it till it gives off a nice aroma 

To this, add  warm water (or milk and water in equal proportions) and mix well
Cook the rava covered on medium heat

Once the rava is cooked, add the sugar, mix well and continue to stir till the sheera leaves the sides of the kadai (In case it sticks to the bottom of the kadai, add a little ghee and stir )
Next add the cardamom powder, and mix well

Grease a thali lightly with ghee and spread the sheera on it uniformly

Let it cool for sometime

Cut the sheera into desired shapes and garnish with lightly roasted cashew nuts, or raisins.