Spusht: Aamras–Poori | Mango Puree & Unleavened Fried Indian Bread

‘Tis the season of mangoes in the store. A ripe mango has a strong fragrance you can sense from a distance. On its outside skin you see a slight green, some yellow, a little orange, and some red hues. On the inside you get golden, sweet, ripe, succulent mangoes. In India, mango is called as the king of fruits. One bite of a juicy mango and you will know why.

ripe mangoes

Dice the mangoes – add the juicy mango pieces into salad, salsa, smoothie, or anything you wish.

diced mangoes

Or throw the roughly chopped mangoes into a blender, blend until smooth (without any water or milk), strain and use the fresh, thick mango puree, made with no preservatives – for your mousse, pudding, cheesecake, and so many wonderful things you wish to make using homemade mango puree.

You can blend:
1 cup of this luscious mango puree with ¾ to 1 cup of milk (how thick or thin a consistency you like)
+ sugar only if required as per taste
+ couple of ice cubes
+ a strand of saffron and a pinch of cardamom powder only if you prefer
= you get mango milkshake for two persons. Add some tiny pieces of mango in the mango milkshake and enjoy it chilled.

mango milkshake: mango puree + milk

Or replace milk with plain yogurt/curd and you will get mango lassi for two.

Or … add ¼ cup milk to the mango puree, still keeping it nice and creamy and here you have made the Indian “aamras” (literally translated into mango juice, but not thin or watery). Refrigerate aamras for an hour minimum until nice and cool. The creamy aamras is enjoyed with the meal during summers in the mango season – say, bhindi ki sabzi, phulka, and aamras. Aamras-Chawal (rice) and Aamras-Poori are great combinations relished in Maharashtra and Hyderabad as far as I have seen.

aamras

Poori (aka kadhai ki poori) is the soft unleavened Indian bread fried in a wok, made during special occasions and festivals. Since it is fried, it is definitely not eaten on a regular basis as phulka/roti is – but during the mango season and with aamras every day, there could be an exception.

golden, sweet, ripe, juicy mangoes

To make kadhai ki poori: take 1 cup of wheat flour, mix in a pinch of salt, start by adding ¼ cup of water with increments of 1 Tbsp water if required to knead it into a firm yet smooth dough. Keep covered for 20-30 minutes. Then, heat oil in a wok or deep fry pan on medium-high ready for deep frying. Divide the dough into 10 small balls, roll each between your palms and flatten like a patty. With the help of the same oil from the pan, a quick dip of the flattened patty in the oil and roll them out into 4” diameter. On a medium to medium-high flame, fry the “poori” on one side, it puffs up, then flip it, when it is golden-brown or light-brown, drain on an absorbent paper or paper towel.

Spusht | Indian Aamras enjoyed with Kadhai ki Poori

Aamras Poori

How I like to eat Aamras and Kadhai ki Puri

Put the light brown colored, hot and puffed up kadhai ki puri on a plate and chilled aamras in a bowl. Keep them on the floor and do a little dance around the plate. Just kidding. Tear a small bite of the poori, bring two corners of the bite together in a way that it looks like a boat with one opened end. Scoop the warm poori boat into the chilled aamras bowl so that aamras gets collected into your poori boat. And eat it.

Enjoy your chilled aamras and warm poori. Happy summer!