Mango Cheese Cake shots

Summers in India are no joke. They are sweaty, burning hot, itchy and what not. We do not go out wearing summer dresses and soak up the sun, coz if we do that we have to be rushed to the emergency room for heatstroke and dehydration. All summers we pray to the Lord to give us some rain and bring back winters.

Lot of bad things being said, the up side about Indian summers are the colorful fruits. Summers vegetable and fruit markets are like paradise for fruit lovers like me. The stalls are loañded with juicy watermelons, plump peaches, crimson plums, earthy kiwis, decadent musk melons. However Indians love their summers as it brings back the king of fruits Mango along with it.

We Indians love our mangoes and everyone have their favorite pick out of the hundreds of variants. My favorite is Dussheri. This indigenous variety is grown majorly in the northern plains of India and the place I come Lucknow is famous for its Dussheris.

Dussheri trees are late bloomers, so the fruit come towards the middle of summers around the end of June. And once they are out in the market I simply refuse to eat any other variant, a little because of loyalty but majorly due to the taste and aroma.

Now a days the markets are filled with these superfood in variants of sinduri, safeda, totapuri which are also great in taste and filled with all the nutrients.

This was the first time I tried a mango cheesecake with a different variant than Dussheris or Alphonso. I used Sindhuri as I couldn't resist their beautiful red color skin when they were calling me on my last trip to the fruit market. Turns out their sweet and tart taste goes great with a cheesecake and gives it a lighter feeling.

So without any further blabber here is the recipe for the mango cheesecake. I made them in small glasses but you can go all traditional and make a big one in a cake tin. I broke mine in a drunk stupor during holi..sob sob.

Things you will need:

4 Ripe mangoes
200 gms thick fresh yogurt
150 gms cottage cheese (paneer)
1/2 cup fresh cream
1/2 granulated sugar
1 packet tops mango jelly crystals (optional you can use gelatine, agar agar or China grass as well)
200 digestive biscuits
1 stick of butter
4 small glasses

Method:

Put the biscuits in a blender and make a crumb out of it.

Mix it with melted butter and layer the glasses. Press it down with your fingers and refrigerate them.

Peel the mangoes and cut them in cubes. Put them in a blender and puree them (you can make a smooth puree or keep little chunks for a bite). Keep it aside.

Grate the cottage cheese in a mixing bowl, add the yogurt, cream and sugar to a smooth paste. It shouldn't be too thick or runny.

Add the jelly crystals to the batter and mix it well until it dissolves completely in the batter.

Now take the glasses out from the refrigerator and start layering.

Carefully add the first layer of the cheesecake batter. If you have spoiled the inner side, make sure to wipe it clean before adding the second layer of the mango puree.

Try to keep at least 4 layers with the top being the pureed mangoes.

Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

Garnish with a mint twig and serve chilled.

Hope you will enjoy making this dessert and eating it with you family and friends as did I.