Haute Kitchen
Mango moods
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Chef Sachin Joshi clues us on to the varied magic one can work with mangoes…
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Photos: P.V. Sivakumar
Spicy and tangy…
Back home in Mumbai, summer was the time when my grandmother got the homemade achar ka masala made. Hand-pounded dhania and mustard seeds went into the making of the raw mango pickle. As I travelled across the country, I realised that much like the rest of the cuisine that differs with every region, the mild aam ka achaar gave way to a fiery hot avakai in the south. Then there was the aam panna, made with the boiled kachcha aam or kairi in the north to beat the sunstroke and the occasional dried amchur tang in the dal.
As for the fruit, the different varieties have been popular, diced or in shakes and soufflés. Mango has been there right from the beginning. If you see the cuisine of the Nawabs you will find elaborate recipes that had the fruit as the key ingredient. What we have done now is given it a contemporary swirl. Each dish takes the flavour and taste of the mango. Alphonso has been my choice of fruit for the preparations for the colour and texture it offers which I fly down from Ratnagiri for my preparations. Bon Appetite.
Mango Pomfret
Ingredients:
640 gm pomfret fillet.
Salt to taste.
White Pepper 10 gm.
Two bay leaves.
Dry white wine Riviera 100 ml.
Small Peeled Onion 40 gm.
Carrot 80 gm.
Green & Yellow Zucchini 160 gm.
Butter 60 gm.
Mango Pulp 80 ml.
Lime juice 2.
Eggs [yolks] 3 No.s.
Preparation:
Peel the small onions, potatoes, carrots and make some pearl with a small vegetable scooper.
Wash and make some pearl with the zucchini.
In a saucepan, place the onion and potato pearl, add the fillet of pomfret the bay leaf, top with some white wine and water.
Season with salt.
Cover with silver foil and bring to boil.
Add the carrots and cook slowly on the fire.
5 minutes before the pomfret is cooked, add the zucchini.
Check that the pomfret is cooked and remove it.
Check that all the vegetables are cooked and remove them.
Make hollandaise add mango pulp to it.
Season with white pepper, lime juice and salt.
Toss the vegetables in butter and transfer on to the plate.
Mango Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust
One-and-a-half cup graham cracker crumbs
Half cup sugar
6 tablespoons (three fourth stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
3 large very ripe mangoes (each about 13 ounces), peeled, pitted, coarsely chopped
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
One and a quarter cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
Sliced peeled pitted mangoes
Preparation:
For crust: Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter 9-inch-diametre springform pan with 3-inch-high sides. Stir cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake until crust is set, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Maintain oven temperature.
For filling: Puree mangoes in processor until smooth. Set aside 2 cups mango puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use). Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 2 cups mango puree and beat until well blended. Pour filling over crust in pan.
Bake cake until set and puffed and golden around edges (center may move very slightly when pan is gently shaken), about 1 hour 25 minutes. Cool cake for one hour. Refrigerate uncovered overnight. Run small knife between cake and sides of pan to loosen. Transfer cake to platter. Cut into wedges and serve with sliced mangoes.
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