Mangoes!!!

I love love love mangoes. They bring back such fond memories....takes me back to my hometown – Mumbai (Bombay), India. The supply there is in plenty, all shapes, sizes and different types. Yes I have a favourite type too – the Alphanso (Haapus) mango. It is sweet and full of flavour. Unfortunately this type is seasonal and that too just for 2 months (around April and May) or beginning of the monsoon season.

I associate this fruit with my summer holidays – vacations, spending time with friends, having get- together with cousins and of course eating lots and lots of mangoes. I remember having mangoes almost every night after dinner. My sister and I would leave them in the refrigerator for some time and eat it cold. Mom would make milkshakes, chutneys, pickles, mango lassi (smoothie), Aam ras (mango pulp) and desserts – just all sorts of things.

I am so thankful to the importers and exporters that these are so easily available here in the UK!

Here's to the mango for its awesomeness (so rightfully the national fruit of India!)

Plum crumble

I always end up buying fruits and almost forgetting about them till they are ripe and need urgent attention. I was wondering what to do with so many ripe plums that were in the fruit bowl and thought of a plum crumble.

I had all the ingredients anyway and the preparation requires hardly any time! :)

Serves 4 (or 2 very greedy people)

Ingredients

400 gm ripe plums halved and stoned

20 gm demerara sugar

1 &1/2 tsp grated ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp plain flour

20 gm ground almonds

For the Crumble

120g plain flour

40g castor sugar

40g demerara sugar

50g butter

1 tsp demerara ( to sprinkle on top)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan oven.

Place the halved plums in a shallow baking dish.

Mix together the ingredients (not the crumble ingredients) - flour, ground almonds, cinnamon, ginger and demerara sugar together and sprinkle on top of the plums.

Mix in the crumble ingredients together gently using the tips of your fingers or put them in a food processor. Make sure not to over process. The mixture should retain a crumbly texture.

Scatter on top of the plums to cover all the plums.

Sprinkle some demerara sugar on top of the crumble mixture.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Leave to cool slightly ( 10 minutes). Serve with cream.

Simple mushroom and garlic pasta

This is a super simple recipe. I used whatever I could find in my store cupboard and voila!

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

200 gm tagliatelle or spaghetti

200 gm mushroom

6 cloves of garlic - chopped finely.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp butter

1 chicken stock cube (optional or you could use veg stock cube)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cornflour

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Bring a large pan of water, with some salt to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as per the instructions on the packet.

Keep around 1/4 cup of the pasta water aside and drain the pasta. Toss the drained pasta with some olive oil.

In 1/2 cup of water, dissolve the stock cube. Add the cornflour and mix well.

Meanwhile in another frying pan, add oil and butter. When the butter melts add in the garlic and cook for a minute. Toss in the mushrooms and cook for around 5 mins.

Add the water with cornflour and stock cube as well as the pasta water (as required. Add all of it if you want some sauce). Add in the drained pasta and toss gently.

Add the chilli flakes, season with salt and pepper and garnish with some chopped parsley or coriander.