MANGO HALWA

Isn't that the king of all fruits for many of us?.... What I see around is the versatile use of this magical fruit .... sweet... juicy... yellowish red in the kitchen of so many.... of certified chefs to self taught, homely cooks. I simply loved the idea of not having mango only as a fruit but using it to prepare a number of desserts... from cheese cakes to various desi sweets. Since, you already know that my fingers are not  that friendly with bakes.... my kitchen is most of the time filled with a sweet aroma of desi desserts.... this time with a MANGO HALWA. There will be at least one dessert stored in the refrigerator for the day... I do that for the teen at home, my nocturnal senior and for any sudden guest given that there is no "doi mishtir dokan".... every 200 meter here..... though there are malls every 1-3 km perhaps.... which has more food stores than clothing shops these days I see. It is difficult for a foodie diabetic like me to practice self control. 

We can always get something or the other for sudden guests within 15 minutes..... but  I have grown up in an environment / family where guests were always welcomed with food made with lots of love and care at home... from the drinks to the mains to chutney to sweet. It was not the number of items that mattered but the warmth expressed doing it. In the grandmother's kitchen, there were two big clay ovens .... 'matir unan'.... I have never seen her frowning in irritation with the arrival of the guests at anytime.... there was always something or the other in her kitchen cabinet to treat people, no beggar went off from her gate without a coin or some food during her reign. The lady is nearing 90... cannot hear properly... still can look after herself without any help..... I love her.... I grew up in her lap.... I have a lot of sweet memories with her to cherish.... and more so because she loved our father too much. When I see my friends doing everything in the kitchen from the scratch ..... my hope gets alive that our lives indeed has not become 'bottled.'.... and the efforts of these yesteryear wonders will not be done away with entirely.

My brother has just called and conveyed me a good news..... the elder sister who has always guarded him like a tigress is too very happy and wishes to treat her readers with some sweets ..... no there is no cliched statement like... oh you know our daddy is coming back in the family.... that way they are not giving any hope as of now, neither did he say didibhai... ok, I will now match my political ideology with yours.... yet some 'mishti mukh' folks because some relations are perhaps not related to any calculation. Fresh Fruits are very much used in my kitchen both for desserts or in curries other than Bengali. We indeed treat Mango as the 'king' given we are still having it which ever variety we are getting coming from the neighbouring countries or elsewhere. This was the first time I have used freshly pureed mango to prepare a scrumptous dessert as this. The ingredients I have used for this MANGO HALWA are ripe mango pulp, semolina, pistachio, cashew nut, raisin, sugar, full cream milk, condensed milk, ghee. There might be similar recipes of MANGO HALWA already, I have not followed any. This dessert with mango, semolina and mixed dry fruits was part of an offering to my God family, hence I could not click pictures of the steps... we are not supposed to. Yet it will not stop us from doing together this yum laden MANGO HALWA which can very much be a part of your festive dessert menu.

INGREDIENTS :

Ripe Mango : 2-3big
Semolina : 1 small tea cup
Sugar : 1/4small tea cup

Bayleaf : 1 [the Bengalis use]

Green Cardamom : [the Bengalis use]

Choice of Chopped Mixed Nuts : 1-2 tbsp

Oil : 3-4 tbsp [you can use ghee for a better flavour]

METHOD :

Wash the mangoes, peel and cut into small cubes. Add to a blender, blend for 2 minutes to get a paste / puree. Pour in a bowl.

Heat the oil in a pan / wok. Tear the green cardamoms a little and add to the ghee, also the bayleaf. Your kitchen is filled with a magnetic aroma... haha...

Add the semolina, fold in well and keep stirring till it is roasted well and turns a little of brown.

Add the mango puree and some water [you can use milk alternatively]. Mix well the entire thing, keep stirring for 6-7 minutes! 

Add the sugar & the edible yellow colour, fold in well & keep stirring for 3-4 minutes!

Add the chopped nuts, stir cook for a minute & take down! Serve & have fresh & hot!