Bengali Aam Kheer (Mango Kheer)

For the last day of blogging marathon#5 I wanted to make a Bengali dessert/ sweet. My dad worked in Burdwan, West Bengal for a year or two and when he visited us he would bring back containers filled with Rasagullas for us to enjoy. Those were the best rasagullas I’ve ever tasted and I don’t think any of the canned or the restaurant ones come even close. I wanted to make rasagullas for the marathon, but didn’t have the time to make them.

Many of the Bengali desserts are made with chenna or sweetened paneer, but with the limited time I had I decided to make this equally delicious and decadent Aam Kheer (Mango Kheer) . Why didn't I ever think of adding mango puree to sweetened and thickened milk to make this divine dessert. So simple, yet so sophisticated and the taste is just out of this world.

Recipe adapted from Sandeepa's Bong Cookbook. I've to thank Sandeepa for all the Bengali dishes on her blog and we had a great time making and eating these delicious dishes. I changed the original recipe a little bit to use up the leftover evaporated and condensed milk I had after making this. I only had 2% milk on hand, but I don't think that affected the taste or consistency of the end product.

Ingredients:

Milk - 2 cups (I used 2%)

Evaporated milk - 1 cup

Condensed milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup (optional)

Saffron - few strands

Ground Elaichi (Cardamom) - 1/2 tsp

Ripe mango - 2 medium

Method:

• Heat 2% milk with evaporated milk in a heavy bottom sauce pan and bring to a boil.
• Add condensed milk and sugar (if using) and continue to simmer on medium flame stirring continuously until the milk thickens and reduces to about half of the original volume, takes about 50 minutes - 1 hour.
• Add saffron and elaichi to the milk mixture in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat and cool completely.
• Chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
• When ready to serve, puree 1 mango and mix with the kheer. Chop the other mango and garnish the serving dishes with cubed mango for a double dose of mango goodness.

This was probably one of the best desserts I've ever made with mango. The kheer had a thick, almost dulce de leche consistency and taste and the sweet mango complements the kheer in a great way. This is a must try for all Mango lovers.

Let's check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up today:
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini,
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini, Suma, Veena
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ, Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala