A recipe for mango lassi posset
The impatient tongue.
That’s how Leela Soma, the Indian Scottish writer and poet describes the wait for the arrival of summer mangoes. The impatient tongue is something I can relate to.
After a year of waiting, I am only satisfied when I have a firm, plump, ripe Alphonso mango in my greedy hand.
Eating a ripe Alphonso is a messy business, but who cares?
The slippery sweet flesh and sucking the last of the juices from the fibres attached to the seed is probably the best, and only way to enjoy an Alphonso.
The knife splits open luscious bright orange pulp, a sweet
Strong aroma spurts out and a million taste buds want more
Leela Soma
My love of mangoes stems back to my childhood, with my mum, in our small north west London kitchen, watching her carefully peel and slice the mango, and in silence, we’d relish the juicy flesh. This love was gently fostered and now it’s hard wired into my psyche.
Mangoes are freely available all year round, peeled and chopped and packed into convenient plastic boxes. Rarely will these mangoes be an Alphonso. These pre-cut and packaged mangoes are hard, sour, and fibrous, they lack flavour, and take the joy away from savouring a mango.
Each year I like to dream up a new Alphonso mango recipe.
This year I’ve experimented with posset, a very English dessert, something akin to a set custard. I had assumed it would be difficult to make. Actually, it’s blissfully easy, the most difficult task is not to overboil the cream.
I’ve taken the flavours from my mango lassi recipe and turned it into a posset. It’s a joyful dessert to eat and to share your love of mangoes with friends.