Okay, here's the mango ice cream recipe that Karen had asked for. My children love this recipe, and as you'll see, it's amazingly easy.
Karen mentioned that she owns a mango farm, so I'm going to give you two versions of this recipe.
Take a half gallon of your favorite vanilla ice cream and leave it out on the kitchen counter until it softens.
Take six ripe mangoes, peel, seed, chop, and blend. When the mangoes are pureed, fold them into the ice cream. Pour into a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid (such as a Tupperware container) and freeze. It takes about 3 hours to freeze again.
Or, if you are in a city with an Indian grocery, buy a large can of mango pulp. Fold the pulp into the softened ice cream, and freeze as described above. (This is what I do, except in mango season).
You can serve this with a topping of chopped mangoes.
Did you know, there's supposed to be about a thousand varieties of mangoes that grow in India?
Mangoes remind me of my grandfather's home in our ancestral village, where he had a small grove of trees behind the house. In mango season, we were allowed to climb the trees and pick our own mangoes. Unfortunately, as a city-child who only visited on holidays, I was very bad at climbing trees and was forced to depend on my cousins' capricious goodwill for my mangoes. (Incidentally, they almost drowned me in the pond behind our house once, but that's another story.)
My mother claims she saw a ghost in the mango orchard one time, a woman who was picking mangoes after a storm, and who disappeared when my mother approached her. After I heard the story, I wished and wished I would see a ghost, too, but none appeared to me. I had to be satisfied with putting one into my novel, Sister of My Heart.
When I first came to this country, I was very homesick for India, for the tastes and smells of home. I was living in the Midwest then, in a smallish town. Indian foods were rare. One day I remember walking into a grocery, and there was a pile of mangoes. They cost $3 each, which at that time, for a poor hourly-wage student like I was, was exorbitant. I bought one anyway. I was so looking forward to eating it. But it turned out to be really sour.
One more mango story. Early in our marriage, my husband Murthy and I went to Hawaii on vacation. On our last day, we came across a mango tree on a public road. It was full of mangoes, and many ripe ones had fallen to the ground. I picked up six of them to bring home. But at the airport I was told I couldn't carry any fruit back to the mainland. Murthy was ready to throw them away, but I refused. I sat there by the customs checkpoint and ate all six mangoes while the customs officers stared and Murthy pretended he didn't know who I was.
I hope you'll share some of your food memories with me.
Karen mentioned that she owns a mango farm, so I'm going to give you two versions of this recipe.
Take a half gallon of your favorite vanilla ice cream and leave it out on the kitchen counter until it softens.
Take six ripe mangoes, peel, seed, chop, and blend. When the mangoes are pureed, fold them into the ice cream. Pour into a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid (such as a Tupperware container) and freeze. It takes about 3 hours to freeze again.
Or, if you are in a city with an Indian grocery, buy a large can of mango pulp. Fold the pulp into the softened ice cream, and freeze as described above. (This is what I do, except in mango season).
You can serve this with a topping of chopped mangoes.
Did you know, there's supposed to be about a thousand varieties of mangoes that grow in India?
Mangoes remind me of my grandfather's home in our ancestral village, where he had a small grove of trees behind the house. In mango season, we were allowed to climb the trees and pick our own mangoes. Unfortunately, as a city-child who only visited on holidays, I was very bad at climbing trees and was forced to depend on my cousins' capricious goodwill for my mangoes. (Incidentally, they almost drowned me in the pond behind our house once, but that's another story.)
My mother claims she saw a ghost in the mango orchard one time, a woman who was picking mangoes after a storm, and who disappeared when my mother approached her. After I heard the story, I wished and wished I would see a ghost, too, but none appeared to me. I had to be satisfied with putting one into my novel, Sister of My Heart.
When I first came to this country, I was very homesick for India, for the tastes and smells of home. I was living in the Midwest then, in a smallish town. Indian foods were rare. One day I remember walking into a grocery, and there was a pile of mangoes. They cost $3 each, which at that time, for a poor hourly-wage student like I was, was exorbitant. I bought one anyway. I was so looking forward to eating it. But it turned out to be really sour.
One more mango story. Early in our marriage, my husband Murthy and I went to Hawaii on vacation. On our last day, we came across a mango tree on a public road. It was full of mangoes, and many ripe ones had fallen to the ground. I picked up six of them to bring home. But at the airport I was told I couldn't carry any fruit back to the mainland. Murthy was ready to throw them away, but I refused. I sat there by the customs checkpoint and ate all six mangoes while the customs officers stared and Murthy pretended he didn't know who I was.
I hope you'll share some of your food memories with me.
Chitra,
What I want to know is how you do it all? Two novels coming out at the same time, a new blog, kids, teaching...congratulations. You're there for your friends,too, which I really appreciate.
Andrea White
Brilliant! I never thought of using the big cans of mango pulp, but I bet I could use them to make Mango Lassi too! My daughter loves mango lassis year round but doesn't quite understand that they are only best in the summer here. I will be trying the ice cream too!
I never tried a mango until we went to India for my friends' wedding. And then I counted 14 different kinds we tried. And I loved them all...and each really tasted uniquely different.
When we lived in California for a while last year, we bought some Indian mangoes from a little bakery that made eggless cakes for my friend's birthday. She was so excited to be getting a real cake like she remembered growing up and a whole case of Indian Mangoes.
My food memories are from my grandmothers. They always made comfort food, macaroni and cheese, pies, and cakes. When they passed away, I was quick to ask for pots and pans, and I think of them always when I use their pots and pans to cook every day.
Dear Chitra,
Now mango images dance in my head. Cruel so cruel, when I have to go chair a meeting with a host of lawyers and no time to grab a mango in advance.
I wish you all best. You're one in a million.
Fondly,
Franci
Thank you very much for the recipes, I´ll make both tomorrow ;). I think the situations you mention about you and your husband are nice (and fun). It shows that you both recognize each other as you are, and it´s beautiful.
Food memory... hum... from my childhood: sweet rice (made with milk, cinnamom and caramelized sugar), strawberries and mangoes... From school times: hot dogs... and from now, the smell of dinners being made somewhere when the night is coming is the best. It makes me feel safe and gives me a warm feeling of families waiting and people coming back home after live another day, I keep trying to guess what will they eat, how will they feel, etc.
You want to see ghosts x___x!!!? It´s so scary x__x!!!
This is a great post, especially because I just came back from the ancestral village Chitra (my auntie!) talks about here. Between her writing, my grandmother's stories and long walks along the dusty roads there ... I have been dreaming about and chasing that ghost, too.
Mangoes....mmmmmmm, brings me back to my childhood days in Chennai in my grandfather's yard where he had many many different kinds of mango trees! Every summer my mom would have a hard time keeping us "grounded" cause my brother and I would often climb those tall mango trees to see who would climb the farthest and who would be able to collect the most number of mangoes! Oh boy, did she have a fit every time we went up one of those trees. I think looking back, we did it just because we loved to see that expression on her face and that it had nothing to do with our little challenge. Whatever the reason, it was always fun and was always worth it when the end result was a nice juicy mango....to taste and savor!
My favorite food made out of mango though is mango pickle. I remember watching my grandmother,my mom and all the aunts getting together and making huge jars of mango pickles every summer. I just love rice with a little bit of "clarified butter" and a lot of mango pickle....yummy, it is making my mouth water even as I write. Now that's comfort food! hehe!