A creamy, delicious vegan dessert recipe, courtesy of my mom.
Orange. The color of fall, autumn leaves, and pumpkins. Every time we drive past the highway, there are already pumpkin patches set up, with bright orange jack-o-lanterns and bundles of straw. The slides are still in construction, but coming along pretty well! I guess that before, I was always astonished at why these people set up everything so early, but it makes sense- the longer they're open, the more customers they get. Besides, as soon as the calendar reads October 1st, everyone's thinking about Halloween.
And just yesterday, it finally felt like fall. Cold! All of a sudden, the sunny warm weather disappears and it's now cold and cloudy. Normally I'd hate this newfound weather change, but that just means more fall flavors to experiment with.
And all this is pretty unrelated to this recipe, so let me talk about that for a moment. This isn't a fall flavor, mango, but its warm, creamy texture makes it perfect for a cold autumn morning. It's actually an Indian dessert, called sheera, a pudding made from rawa, usually with nuts or raisins, producing a creamy, well, dessert-like texture. If I had to compare it to something American, I'd say like a suuuuuuper thick Jell-O. But that description just doesn't do it justice. It's vegan, smooth, creamy, and filled with mango flavor. It takes around ten to fifteen minutes to make. No oven required. And it's my mom's recipe. What's not to love?
My mom uses canned unsweetened mango pulp for this because we don't have mangoes right now, but if you have fresh mangoes in season that you want to use, go for it!
Want to make this vegan? Simply substitute the ghee in the recipe with coconut oil, melted vegan butter, or any other neutral oil such as safflower or olive.
Mango Sheera(Semolina Pudding)
Cuisine: Indian
Course: Dessert, Breakfast
Author: Prachi Marfatia(recipe by Sonali Kale)
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
1/2 cup+ 1 tablespoon(about 133ml) fresh or canned mango pulp(make sure it is unsweetened)
4 tbsp(30g) sugar
9 tbsp barik rawa(fine semolina/fine sooji), about 100g
1-2 tbsp ghee, coconut oil, or vegan butter
3/4 cup(175ml) water
Directions:
Add the ghee/oil to a medium pot over medium flame. Once it melts and heats up a bit, add the fine semolina rawa and stir to coat evenly. This step is the most important, as the rawa needs to be evenly mixed and thoroughly incorporated. Keep it on the heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes, then add the sugar. Stir this for a few seconds, and then pour in the mango pulp and stir again, just for 10-20 seconds. Then add 1 1/2 cups of water and stir it evenly. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3-5 more minutes, then take off the heat. Serve now, or shape into little desserts by pressing into a sheera mold or decorative bowl and inverting on a plate. Optionally, top with dessicated coconut, nut slivers, or condensed milk. Enjoy!
note: this will stay in the fridge for about 3 days. I doubt it'll last that long though.
