Summer Recipe: Raw Mango cooler

Tilly bomb has been chilling at his grandmas this summer. It’s a rather long stay this time and with so much toddler energy floating around the house I’ve just about managed to scramble some time in for this post.

A ritual of sorts has set in. I wake up at 6:00 am and go for a run. T wakes up soon after and his day begins with some cling time with grandma followed by breakfast and unadulterated play time. I get back, get us both ready for the day and before we know it it’s 11:00 am already. We have a ‘Juice Ritual’ in place where T will enjoy a glass of gorgeous cold homemade juice. Everyday is something different. So far there has been lemonade, watermelon and mint, kokam sherbet and raw mango infused with saffron, my favourite.

The raw mango juice also called ‘Ambyache Panha’, is a super traditional Maharashtrian drink specially made by mums and grandmums for the whole family to cool down with. In other parts of the country it is also known as ‘Aam Panna’. It’s fairly uncomplicated to make and totally yummy.

Here’s what you will need:

1. 1 Raw mango. Avoid using Alphonso since those tend to be extremely sour which means the concentrate will require more sugar to balance the sourness. Try using a variety of Raw mango which is not that sour. I’ve used a ‘Totapuri’ for it isn’t too sour and it yields more pulp then other raw mangoes. Any other variety will require double the amount of sugar.

2. Organic sugar, the measure of sugar should be equal to the measure of the pulp extracted

3. Saffron

4. Cardamom seeds, ground

5. Pinch of salt

Here’s what you will need to do:

1. Cut a slit in the mango and chop the brown stem off the top. There is a lot of sap just below the stem which you could do without

2. Pressure cook the mango for about 3 to 4 whistles

3. Take it out of the pressure cooker and gently de-skin

4. Squeeze out all the pulp off the stone and add it into a blender

5. Add the sugar to the pulp with the salt and the cardamom powder and blend until smooth

6. Add the saffron strands

7. Store the concentrate in a glass bottle

Serving:

1. Fill 1/4 of the glass with the concentrate

2. Top off the glass with cold water

3. Stir vigorously and serve cold

4. If you think the drink is too strong you could choose to reduce the quantity of the concentrate in the glass

_{All pictures in this article are original and belong to the author. Reproducing them in any form without the permission of the author will not be allowed.} 

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