Mango Pannacotta- Here comes the call of the king!

The summer season is all ready to bid adieu and so is our beloved king of fruits - Mango or Aam. The favourite fruit of many is all geared up to say goodbye and the ones lying in my refrigerator were calling out to me frantically to give them a farewell much deserved. Sigh!

I was initially very confused as to what to make with them as I really didn't want to make things that I would usually make like mango shake, mango raita, etc. After a lot of deliberation, I finally decided to make Mango Panna Cotta in honour of the royal fruit. 

Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert (more like custard) and in English, it translates to 'cooked cream'. True to its name, Panna Cotta is made by cooking cream, milk and sugar on low flame and then mixing with gelatin and cooling it to set. Now one can either mix the mango purée into the cream mixture and add gelatin in the end to set the custard (this basically makes things a lot more easier) or leave the custard to set and make a separate layer of mango coulis to add on top. I chose the latter.

I used two ripe mangoes. Chopped a portion into small cubes (for the coulis and garnishing) and puréed the rest of the pulp. Here's the recipe I followed (I have divided into parts for ease of understanding):

MANGO PANNACOTTA RECIPE

Serves : 5-6 (medium portions)

1) For Pannacotta

Ingredients

Cream - 1¼ cups (I used Amul cream)
Milk - ¾ cup (preferably full fat but I used toned milk)

Sugar - 5 tsp (adjust according to taste)
Mango purée (Unsweetened)- 4 tbsp
Vanilla essence - ¼ tsp
Gelatin - 2 tsp

Water - 5 tbsp

Method

1. Sprinkle gelatin in a bowl of cool water and leave for 5 minutes.
2. In a vessel, mix cream, milk and sugar. Heat this mixture on low heat till sugar dissolves, continuously stirring with a whisker.
3. Once sugar has completely dissolved, add the mango purée and heat on low flame till it comes to a slight boil, continuously stirring with a whisker.
4. Switch off the gas and pour the vanilla essence and gelatin mixture into the vessel and mix well. 
5. Once the gelatin has dissolved, let the mixture cool for a few minutes and then pour it into serving bowls, filling them about three-fourth (I used shot glasses). 
6. Cover the bowls with cling film and leave them to set in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours.

2) For Mango coulis

Ingredients

Mango purée (Unsweetened)- remaining portion (about a cup and a half)

Sugar - 5 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Gelatin - 2 tsp

Water - 5 tbsp

Cardamom oil - 1 drop (optional)

Method

1. Sprinkle gelatin in a bowl of cool water and leave for 5 minutes.
2. In a vessel, heat mango purée and sugar on low flame, till sugar completely dissolves, stirring continuously.
3. As sugar dissolves, remove from gas and add gelatin mixture. Mix well and leave to cool for a few minutes.
4. Add on top of the panna cotta layer, cover the bowls with cling film and leave in the refrigerator to set for 4-5 hours.

3) Garnishing (Optional)

For garnishing, I whisked some Amul cream to soft peak consistency and then added 6 tsp castor sugar (adjust according to taste), and beat it again to medium peak consistency. Layer the cream on top of the shot glasses. I topped these with mango cubes and left to cool for an hour in the refrigerator. (Read about making and using whipped cream here)


Mango panna cotta is all set to be devoured!

With this, as I say goodbye to the royal fruit, all I have to say is:

"GOODBYES ARE NOT FOREVER, GOODBYES ARE NOT THE END.
THEY SIMPLY MEAN I'LL MISS YOU UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!" 

Besan Chilla! Why don't you just chill?

WARNING - This is about an experiment that was only partially successful. Attempt it at your own risk! :-P But if you are an amateur like me, you can always read it to learn from my mistakes. If you are an expert, please do leave me some suggestions for improvement.

As I woke up this morning, the sudden thought of making something that I have never tried before struck me. The first thing that came to my mind was - BESAN CHILLA. Apparently, a simple dish to make but does anyone ever think as to how the difficulty rating of recipes should be decided for novices like me (who almost always get stumped on the quantity of ingredients to be taken)! For beginners, all recipes other than Maggi and Omelette should be rated starting from Difficult to Are you friggin' out of your mind!

Coming back to cooking, everything went on smoothly as I sieved the besan, added water to it and mixed it well. Worked with the veggies and the spices and mixed everything well. But soon crisis struck. I realized my batter was too thin. I quickly managed to salvage my dear Chillas by adding some more besan and the batter was soon good enough (pakoda batter consistency) and I left the batter covered for sometime.

Finally, I got to my favorite part, cooking the chillas. The stage was set and the tawa was hot, calling me to quickly put the batter onto it. With full enthusiasm, I poured two spoons of the batter on the hot tawa. But the moment I tried to spread the batter, I saw myself facing my moment of truth ;-(. The batter just stuck to the bottom of the tawa and refused to budge! Flinching at the disaster, I tried to save the first Chilla of my life but to no avail. It was soon a tiny mountain of crushed remains of what could have been an awesome Chilla. After another failed attempt, I made a rescue call and my little brother who is doing Hotel Management came to my rescue. Finally, we were able to save the Chillas. Although they were a bit out of shape, they tasted pretty good and I got appreciated for that.

Sure I am not very far from the day when I shall be churning perfect Chillas.

OUR GREATEST GLORY IS NOT IN NEVER FAILING, BUT IN RISING UP EVERY TIME WE FAIL.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Credit: I got the recipe for Besan Chilla/Cheela from here.

PS: In all the hustle today, I completely forgot about taking pictures. I will remember that next time onward and shall eagerly await valuable comments/feedback/ suggestions.