Mango Saffron Ice Cream :)

Okay, I m super energetic today! Is the diet finally working? Perhaps, yes! I m doing something right!

On 19^th May this week, I turned a year wiser and decided to honour my son’s wish of a home-made Mango-Saffron ice cream. Now since I did not have the gadgets to make the ice cream, I followed my Aai’s (mother makes the best pound cake, mango and coffee ice creams in the whole wild world) traditional recipe and added a Mediterranean twist of flavours with saffron strands in it. Something old and something new-a recipe has a tale to tell! J

If you are looking for an instant ice-cream recipe, this is not it! This one demands you to be patient and perseverant.

Ingredients:

4 cups of milk (1% or 2% gives as good results as whole milk)
3-4 tbsp. custard powder (vanilla)
1 tsp. vanilla essence (optional, it just gives an oomph to the flavor)
4-6 tbsps. Sugar/honey. (I was out of honey so used regular white sugar. One fyi, this is not a very sweet ice cream. So in case you like yours to be very sweet, taste the thickened milk prepared after mango pulp is added.)
Hearty pinches of saffron.
10 tbsps. Mango pulp (You can make your own pulp with very little sugar. I get mine from my husband’s mom. She makes this pulp out of homegrown organic alphonso mangoes, lucky me right? :P).There are other varieties of mangoes,but nothing beats the Alphonsos. Many Indian stores carry fresh ones during April-May every year and you can make your own pureé /pulp at home.This puree can be frozen for upto a year.Sharing pictures from our backyard in (Nagpur) India showcasing the beloved Mango goodness!

Method:

Take a saucepan and boil the milk. Keep stirring it often to avoid burning.

(I did it while my son was glued to a barney series, got really all the time to do it!)

Take few tablespoons of milk in a cup and warm it in the microwave. Add the custard powder to the cup and stir. Add the saffron strands to this yellow mix. Don’t let it set.
Reduce the milk to 3/4^th quantity and add the custard powder mixture to it.
Mix thoroughly and continue to boil it.
Add sugar/honey to it once all the custard powder mixture dissolves in it. The milk solution created must not have any lumps or crystals.
Microwave the mango pulp for 20 seconds and turn it into the saucepan of milk.If you are using the mango pulp (amras) from the tin, then make sure you don’t microwave it. Add it as is to the saucepan.

Stir continuously. This is a tiring process, ask your partners to offer help. Mine was in the safety of his office:P.

Once this starts to thicken spoon the mixture into bowls. As they cool down, you can sit for a while J It took about 15-20 minutes for the custard to completely cool down. I kept it into the freezer. After an hour (while its still not completely set) or so take it out and turn a fork through it. My mother always did it. It helped in breaking any lumps or crystals formed encouraging the ice cream to turn very light and creamy.

3-4 hours later, Voilà the ice cream of dreams was ready!! Since on a diet (already at some on Sunday) I only tasted it!

Looking at my son eat was such a priceless moment! He really enjoyed every bite of Mango Saffron ice cream. Hope you enjoy this simple recipe from my mother’s book along with your loved ones.

Enjoy the spring! The perfect bite of mango and saffron just melts into your mouth! The texture is smooth and has a sense of that motherly earthiness to it! This is one treat that you could enjoy and make with your family.Perfect activity for a good long weekend! Happy Memorial Day!