Fresh, sweet and ripe mangoes pureed with just a hint of cardamom, make for a delicious dessert that to me, brings back fond memories of carefree childhood summer vacations spent in Bombay with my family. Easy to make and delicious tasting, you cannot go wrong with aamras!
Ingredients:
- Ripe mango (Alphonso mangoes are the yummiest, but the Mexican mangoes available here are quite delicious too!) (I used 2 big mangoes)
- Cardamom (2-3 pods)
Method:
- Wash, peel and cut the mangoes into chunks.
- Discard the peels of the cardamoms and using a mortar and pestle, make a powder of the seeds.
- Add the cardamom powder to the blended mango pulp. Serve as is or with puris/rotis/parathas.
Tip:
- Alternatively, you may use dried ginger powder or nutmeg (jaiphal) powder and/or saffron and a little milk for seasoning the aamras instead of cardamom powder.
- I didn’t add any sugar since the mangoes were sweet enough, but you may depending on how sweet the mangoes that you are going to use are.
- Here, I’ve served aamras with puris, shrikhand and chana masala.
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (mango), sour (mango), salty (none), bitter (none), pungent (cardamom), astringent (none).
Doshic Influence:
Ripe mangoes are heating, so can be pitta aggravating. Due to their sweetness, they can also be kapha aggravating, in excess. Their heavy, sweet, nourishing qualities make them an excellent food for pacifying vata. However, in general sweet, ripe mangoes are energizing to the dhatus/tissues of the body. It is interesting that although fruits combined with milk is considered an inappropriate food combination in Ayurveda, milk is considered an excellent accompaniment for sweet, ripe mangoes. Unripe mangoes have different qualities.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Aamras is a sattvic food with its sweet and nourishing qualities.