Mango Sheera (Sheer Indulgence)

Mango Sheera (or Sweet Semolina flavoured with Alphonso Mango ) is a firm favourite in our house. Now Sheera which is traditionally flavoured with bananas tastes awesome and I have savoured it loads of times since childhood .But about 10 years back I tasted this modern variation with Alphonso Mango pulp and that too the fresh kind for the first time at my sister's and loved it. Surprisingly though I never made it myself till last year when I hosted a food stall.

At the stall the initial reaction of most people when they read my menu was that of intrigue . Just as I had expected people were drawn to it as anything that has mango in it and particularly Alphonso mango is simply impossible to resist to any Maharashtrian. After savouring the first spoonful most of them were completely bowled over by the combination of the delicious flavours of mango and cardammom and ghee and soon I had people asking me for the recipe. Needless to say I had sold out all the Sheera in about 2 hours or so.

It gives me great pleasure to share this recipe with you all . I admit I have used canned alphonso pulp as the fresh one is obviously not available right now , but do make sure that you use only alphonso pulp canned or fresh and no other variety of mango. My apologies for not keeping my promise and posting this yesterday. I hope you find that the wait was worth it.

Ingredients needed:

1 cup semolina,

1/4 cup ghee /clarified butter,

1 can (400 gms) of alphonso mango pulp or 2 cups of fresh mango pulp. Blend the fresh pulp to a smooth consistency before using it,

2 cups hot milk,

1 1/2 cup sugar,

1 tspn cardammom powder,

1/2 tspn saffron strands.

Method:
1. In a heavy bottom wok or flat pan , heat the ghee and add to that the semolina. Mix the two and roast the semolina on a very gentle heat to a golden colour. The aroma of the roasted semolina with ghee is very tantalising.

2.While you are roasting the semolina, gently bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Switch off the gas once it comes to a boil.

3. After the semolina is nice and golden add the hot milk very gradually into it. Be careful as hot steam rises as soon as you pour the milk into the semolina. Mix it all very well and cover the pan with a lid for a few mins so the semolina ccoks by the steam . (Note the heat should be gentle at all times as it is very easy to burn the semolina.)

4. Remove the lid and next add the sugar. Mix again. As the sugar dissolves the entire mixture will change in consistency and become very loose. But it comes back to normal as soon as all the sugar is dissolved. Again cover and let cook for a few secs.

5. Now uncover again ,switch off the gas and add the mango pulp ,cardammom powder and the saffron strands. Stir these in gently. Cover it for one last time for a few seconds. At this stage again the sheera gets a loose consistency but it gets firmer in texture once it has cooled down again.

Your Sheera is ready to eat.

It's a great accompaniment to a festive meal and is served in this traditional dome shape which is achieved by using this little plastic gadget.