Aam Ras Doodhpak

Aam Ras Doodhpak, one of the numerous ways of enjoying mangoes when they are in season in summers. Doodhpak is a gujarati equivalent of Kheer  a rather toned down version of Kheer. The ration of  rice to milk is very low but the trick here is to cook the milk for a considerable long time. The milk gives that slightly caramely flavour and the rice just adds that little bit of texture. But we are talking about mangoes here, they are the reason we love summers and can endure the extreme hot temperatures it brings along.

I have some very fond memories of this fruit and have narrated it in my earlier posts.  One of the most soul satisfying way to enjoy the much revered  mangoes is the Aam Ras and most Gujaratis have bowls-ful of it at lunch everyday in summer. Aam Ras is liquid gold and the bowls should be licked clean 🙂 Apart from Aam Ras we love making ice cream and Shrikhand with it. The rest of the stuff we make wit ripe mango are secondary to these three preparations. As I explore and earn more about the regional Indian cuisines I came across this interesting way to Aam Ras and that is mixing it with coconut milk and if the mangoes are sweet-sour adding a little jaggery to it. The recipe has its roots in costal Karnatak  and is called Mango Shikrane or Mango Rasayan…

We have also been adding milk to our mango pulp just substitute it with coconut milk to take the drink to another level. Adding sugar or jaggery is absolutely up to you, I wasn’t required to add any because the Kesar mangoes I used very extremely sweet. I choose to cal this Aam Ras Doodhpak because we have cooked the two together. Serve it cold, addition of sooth/dried ginger powder is entirely up to you and so it the tempering part I feel both the ghee and sooth are part of Gujarati way of enjoying Aam Ras so why not add it!! The ghee roared cashews do taste good in the Aam Ras Doodhpak. Serve it as a festive summer spread for lunch along with Idra/white dhokla and potato subzi!!

I hope you enjoy it…