Aam Panna

The summer is here and so also the mango season - they go hand-in-hand. A refreshing drink to help you keep cool this summer.

My spouse brought home a few raw mangoes as well as the ripe ones. This time I decided to try Aam Panna (raw Mango juice) concentrate so that I can preserve it for a few days and serve it when my guests arrive at the weekend. I searched on the net and got this recipe (see below for the link). I made a few changes in the recipe and spiced it up a bit by adding dry ginger powder, black pepper powder and cardamom powder for that extra punch.

I liked the end result and my spouse too gave it a “Thumbs Up” ! You too can make some variations in the spices as per your choice.

Ingredients:

Raw Mangoes	2 Medium
Jaggery Powder	1/2 cup
Water	1 cup
Rock salt (Kala Namak)	1 tsp
Cummin (jeera) powder	1 tsp
Dry ginger powder	1-1/2 tsp
Black Pepper powder	1-1/2 tsp
Mint leaves	10 -12 leaves
Cardamom powder	1 tsp

Method :

1. Wash and peel the raw mangoes and cut them into chunks.
2. Cook the mango chunks in a pressure cooker for 15 mins. And when done remove from the cooker and allow it to cool completely.
3. Combine jaggery powder and water and heat it until jaggery is completely melted and when slightly cooled, filter it and get rid of (if any) impurities. Let this also cool completely.
4. Next, in a mixie jar, add the cooked and cooled mango pieces, mint leaves, rock salt, cumin powder,dry ginger powder, and black pepper powder and grind this to a puree.
5. Now mix the cooled melted jaggery with the puree.
6. Finally add cardamom powder and give it a good stir.
7. The “Aam Panna” concentrate is now ready.
8. Store the concentrate in an air-tight sterilised glass bottle and refrigerate it.

To Serve:

In a glass, add about 3 tbsps of this prepared concentrate and mix water as required. Stir and serve chilled garnished with mint leaves.

Raw mangoes

Two raw mangoes- peeled and chopped

Jaggery powder being melted in water

Steamed raw mango pieces

Ingredients

Cardamom powder added to the mixture.

Ready to serve

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins

Cooling time : about an hour

Makes: About 8 glasses

Note:

• Tastes best when served chilled.
• You can dilute the concentrate with water as per your requirement.
• The concentrate when stored in a refrigerator will last for few days.
• I followed the basic recipe from - http://www.tomatoblues.com/2014/04/aam-panna-spiced-raw-mango-juice-recipe.html#sthash.HvG7Otnh.dpuf and also added a few more ingredients to spice it up.

Instant Dhokla

As promised, I am posting the second dish that was prepared at the cookery demo. We were all served a sample piece of this dhokla with a little green chutney. It tasted superb. It was moist, soft and fluffy.

I have tried different ways of preparing this popular dish of the Gujarati community. We were told that this is a traditional recipe handed down from great-grandmas of their generation.

I have observed, that in this recipe (unlike other recipes) one needs to beat the mixture after each addition of ingredient – just like as we do in cakes. This time however I did exactly the way it was demonstrated – I used the (wooden) spoon to beat the mixture. Next time I would like to use the electric beater and see whether there is a difference in the texture.

Anyway, the end result was too good – just the way I had tasted it at the demo.

Ingredients :

Besan /Gram flour	1 cup
Water	3/4 cup
Salt	1 tsp
Citric Acid	1/2 tsp
Cooking soda / Eno	1/2 tsp
Oil	1 tbsp
For Garnishing
Grated fresh coconut	1 tbsp
Coriander leaves (chopped)	1 tbsp

For Tempering:

Oil	2 Tbsp
Mustard seeds	2 tsps
Asafetida/Hing	A pinch
Green chillies (chopped)	4
Sugar	2 tsps
Water	1/2 cup

Method :

1. Wash and chop green chilies and corriander leaves and keep aside.
2. Grate fresh coconut and keep aside.
3. Heat steamer ( or pressure cooker without the whistle) with water. Place a greased container or a greased plate in it.
4. In the meantime, take a bowl and mix besan and water to a thick and smooth batter.
5. To this, add salt and mix. Add citric acid and mix. Add soda/eno and mix again. Finally add oil beat fast to make the batter fluffy.
6. Pour the batter into the steamed container /plate and steam it for about 15 minutes or till done (a toothpick when pierced, should come out clean).
7. Remove and allow it to cool.
8. When cooled, cut it into squares but do not remove the pieces from the plate.
   For tempering:
9. Heat a pan. Add oil, mustard seeds and asafoetida /hing. When mustard seeds starts spluttering, add chopped green chilies. After a minute or two, lower the flame and gently add water and sugar.
10. Let it boil. Switch off the gas and pour the entire contents on the cut dhokla pieces.
11. Decorate with chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut before serving.

Ingredients- gram flour, water, oil, salt, eno & citric acid

Chopped green chilies, coriander leaves & grated fresh coconut

Mixture of gram flour and water

Mixture becomes fluffy after the addition of eno/soda

Dhokla mixture steamed and kept to cool

Tempering under process

Contents of tempering poured over the steamed and cut dhoklas

Garnished with chopped coriander leaves & grated coconut

Preparation time : 15 mins

Cooking time : 15 mins

Serves : 4-5

Note:

• After each addition of salt, citric acid, soda and oil, mix/beat vigrously to get the fluffy texture.
• Do not fill the greased container/plate upto the brim – leave some space for it to rise.
• I used an 8 inch diameter greased steel plate for steaming the dhoklas.
• Green chutney that goes well with dhoklas is prepared by grinding to a paste - corriander leaves, mint leaves (smaller bunch) and curry leaves (a few sprigs) along with green chilies, cummin seeds (jeera), salt, a little water and lime juice.