CREAMY MANGO AND YOGURT CUPS TOPPED WITH CHOCOLATE

I wished to go kid's friendly today. This innocent bunch of the sweeties are always my favourite, I find solace in their company because I need not be pretentious  amidst them, neither they need to be. I was teaching Speech & Drama in the last of the three schools I worked in total. The day I wore a saree, they would say I am looking beautiful. Particularly, a smart, little girl would make cards or pluck a flower for me on such days. After leaving that job, I met the same girl elsewhere.... I asked how is your new teacher doing? She said... I think she is slightly better than you... but we loved you. I agreed, smiled and hugged her. I whispered that is the reason I left the job without any notice while I was supposed to serve for three months after notice. I strongly felt I was not delivering the way I should, a Speech n Drama teacher needs to be far more vibrant, vocal and engaging. If a teacher gets lost watching a robin or a cuckoo outside the class door, she has no right to be there for a single day. I never went back and asked for an experience letter either ... at least this amount of wisdom we all have.

Where did I take the lessons of wisdom from?.... I took it from life itself and from a then little boy some ten years back. He is the only son of a neighbourhood, dear couple friend..... Deepro Roy.... whether his parents approve of it or not, I call him my elder son. It was him among the youngsters who approved that S aunty can cook and her fried chicken tasted nearer to the KFC ones. At age 12-13, he did discuss Kafka with me, his aunty is not well read as him, did not understand always what he said. Paying due respect to all my teacher friends.... from the school to the university level .... who are even full bright scholars and visit Edinburg and NYC State Universities as guest speakers, I would say my elder son has excellent command over English. He is a poet and painter, he has published articles to his credit. Do I love him only for this? No.... He was a little boy of 10 perhaps and our son 6... a rebel, throwing tantrums now and then, extremely  apathetic towards the strangers. When every other person told this poor, sobbing, worried mother that your son needs counselling, my elder son told, no he does not require any counselling, he is just different... he need not be like others... 

Deepro... our son's Jishnu dada  was the 'Quora' bank for my son. In the school bus, his work was to answer the son's weird questions. Being a sailor's wife, I had to spent a considerable amount of the time alone without been able to share my worries with my senior. Deepro would say instead of been worried... take pride in your son that he watches Stephen Hawking shows on television at age eight .... whats the point...? Now he plays games on the computer. At present Deepro is doing Liberal Arts in a well known institute of Western India, he wishes to go for film direction. Where did he inherit this love for art and culture?... From his very much culturally inclined parents.... who read, write, paint and recite..... and they did not attempt suicide when Jishnu told he does not wish to pursue Science or Mathematics further.

I know of parents who hit their kids if they score less in mathematics.... our such a good human father used to hit me for not enjoying mathematics! I wish to ask if they scored full marks in mathematics at school? My next question will be did it stop them from being what they wished to be in life?.... They are well placed enough to take pride in themselves. It is good to be well read in mathematics but not scoring high in it does not make one a failure. Follow your passion. Some of my friends' kids do good in mathematics and love to cook for the family as well. Taking all the kids together today, I felt let me prepare something the innocent beings can prepare easily and enjoy eating with family. 

Meanwhile, let my men search Google for the way to the kitchen, perhaps they do not even want to step into the kitchen. I am in a good mood today, a dear friend and cook told my 'tel koi'... a fish preparation was yum that I sent for him yesterday. I will talk about him later, I have to because he prepares the best Kolkata style mutton biryani in this island .... He feeds me biryani and I feed him kochu, ghechu, chocchori. I sent this dessert to his beautiful, dessert loving wife Nibedita ..... who is a former actress and dancer and another friend Ipsita, yet to get a feedback.

Here is a no cook, hearty, chilled dessert that you can prepare within an hour. Done with hung yogurt, ripe mango, cream and topped with chocolate, it's taste is guaranteed. Come let us do it together once we get to see yellow, ripe mangoes in the market.

                     

INGREDIENTS :

Ripe Mango : 2big [I used Thai Honey]
All Purpose Cream : 100ml [I used Nestle]
Plain Yogurt : 1medium tea cup [hung]
Sugar : 3 tbsp

Edible Yellow Colour : 1-2 drops
Green Cardamom Powder : 1tsp
Chocolate : 1/2small tea cup [I used Cadbury Dairy Milk]
Serve with wafers if you wish to

METHOD :

Take the plain yogurt in a piece of white, cotton cloth, tie and hung for an hour or two. Take down, untie and transfer to a bowl.

Peel, wash and paste the mango pulp in a blender, discard the seed! Take in a sauce pan, add the sugar & few drops of edible yellow colour, mix and simmer at minimal heat for 6-7 minutes! Let it cool!

Pour the pulp to the cream and yogurt mixture. Beat well!

Add the cardamom powder and mix the whole thing again with a hand beater. 

Keep the bowl in the refrigerator to chill. We will melt the chocolate and top the dessert with it only before serving. 

Boil some water on the gas stove. Take the chocolate pieces in a bowl and hold just touching the boiling water. Give a stir as it starts to melt.The chocolate will melt in two minutes.

Serve the extremely delicious chilled dessert topped with chocolate to your family and friends and enjoy.