‘Tis the season to mango it up, with these sweet, delicious and easy desserts!

Cube it, slice it or simply bite off a bit to enter a world of sweet drunken haze, there's no end to how to consume it

It’s that time of the year again when we find ourselves replacing wholesome meals with the indulgent sweetness of mangoes.

A delicious variety of Langra, Sindhri, Anwar Ratol, Chaunsa, Desheri, Himsager and Sammar Bahist, to name a few of the desi aams (mangoes) are readily available in Pakistan. These mangoes become a delicious addition at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In his book ‘The Last Mughal’, William Dalrymple quoted the following, defining our love affair with mangoes aptly.

“For Mirza Ghalib, the late evening was the time for indulging in mango related pleasures, especially the exquisitely small, sweet chaunsa mango, a taste he shared with many other discerning Delhiwallahs, past and present. At one gathering, a group of Dehliwallahs were discussing what qualities a good mango should have.

“In my view,” said Ghalib, “there are only two essential points about mangoes – they should be sweet, and they should be plentiful.”

One thing which made a particular summer semester stand out during my time at Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS) was when my roommate used to cut out mango cups for me and both of us used to guzzle down the sweetness in an instant.

Cube it, slice it or simply bite off a bit, there is no end to how to consume this fruit.

Here are three quick mango dishes for everyone to try.

Mango biscuit trifle



Ingredients:

Digestive biscuits – 200 grams

Mango jelly – 2 packets (prepared)

Mangoes – 2 cups (chopped)

Fresh cream – 400 grams (whipped)

For Custard:

Milk – 3 cups

Sugar – 4 tbsp

Corn flour – 2 tbsp

Mango essence – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Put milk, sugar, corn flour and mango essence together in a sauce pan and cook until thick.

2.Let it cool and fold in the cream.

3.Arrange biscuits in a serving bowl and spread one packet of cooked and chilled mango jelly over the biscuit base.

4.Spread the ½ of custard, mango pieces and remaining custard over this base/

5.Decorate this with the remaining mango jelly cubes, whipped cream and chopped mangoes.

6.Serve this chilled.

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Mango mousse



Ingredients:

Mangoes – 3

Caster sugar – ½ cup

Lemon juice – 2 tsp

Gelatin powder – 1 tbsp

Cream – 1 cup

Egg whites – 2

Method:

Chuck in all the ingredients in a blender and blend the mixture till it is smooth. Serve it chilled.

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Mango cheesecake



Ingredients:

Base:

Digestive biscuit – 100 grams (crushed)

Melted butter – 50 grams

Filling:

Philadelphia cream cheese – 250 grams (softened)

Caster sugar – 100 grams

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Gelatine – 1 tbsp

Mango puree – 200 grams

Whipping cream – 200 grams

Method:

1.Combine the biscuit crumbs with butter and press into the base of a seven-inch loose based cake pan. Chill for 30 minutes.

2.Dissolve gelatine in lemon juice over a hot water bath.

3.Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in the gelatine mixture and beat until it is well combined.

4.Beat in the mango puree.

5.Fold in the whipped cream and pour this over the prepared base.

6.Chill this till it sets and top it off with mango jelly.



Try making these delicious mango dishes before mango season ends.

All photos: Arhama Siddiqa