Mango Ice-cubes and Ice-Candies

Last week, it was raining mangoes in my house. It so happened that my spouse bought some Alfonso and Mallika (local) mangoes. And a day later, one of my friends visited me in passing and brought some Baiganpally (produce of Hyderabad) mangoes. Then, my spouse's friend who dropped by brought with him some mangoes saying that they are Mallika mangoes which were grown in their backyard. And lastly my neighbour, who was vacationing in Madurai, brought some mangoes, from Trivandrum. So you see, I had a variety of mangoes to eat and I am not complaining! I love mangoes (though I am partial towards Alphonso) and all these are extremely sweet and pulpy ones. So, I believe, when God gives you mangoes, make mango ice-cubes and candies!  

To make mango ice-cubes, I used the ice-cube tray and for the ice-candy, I used the kulfi mould and ice-cream sticks (wooden).

Mango Lassi, Mango Salsa and Fruit Mattoo are some of the other recipes that you can make during the mango season. I have already posted them in my blog. 

Ingredients:

Mangoes	2
Milk (optional)	1 small cup
Sugar (optional)	As per taste

Method:

1. Wash and peel the mangoes. Then roughly cut them into chunks.
2. Put the chunks in a blender and blend them until smooth.
3. If you are using milk, add them along with the mango pieces and blend them until smooth.
4. Keep an ice-cube tray, kulfi moulds and the ice-cream sticks ready.
5. Now gently pour the prepared mango puree into the ice-cube tray and the kulfi moulds.  In the kulfi moulds insert the ice-cream sticks in the centre.
6. Freeze the tray and the moulds until solid. This may take about 3-4 hours or keep it overnight.
7. To unmould the cubes and the candies, run hot water around the outside (of the tray and the mould) for a very brief moment. The cubes and the candies will slide out smoothly.

Preparation time : 15 – 20 mins

Freezing time : 3-4 hours

Note:

• If you smear the kulfi moulds with a drop of oil, the candy will slide more easily.
• The mango cubes can be used in any fruit juices OR if you put about 12-16 of these cubes in a glass and allow it to thaw you will get a glass of fresh mango juice.
• I have totally omitted sugar as the mangoes were extremely sweet. 
• You can preserve any fruits (watermelon, musk melon, etc) that are juicy and pulpy in this manner.