Panna - Raw Mango Drink



Panna



The hot summer days are once again upon us, and the thing to look forward to the most during this time is mango...whether raw or ripe, the various ways in which it can be had is umlimited and all very enjoyable...

In our childhood this was also the time the schools would be closed for vacation and many time we had gone to our native place to a small town near Udupi...there my grandparents had a farm - with ofcourse mango trees, coconut trees surrounding the farm house - and the pleasure with which we would eat the mangoes grown there ( not the Alphonso variety - but that did not matter to us much )...we would not even wait to cut or peel it ( not sure whether we even washed it ) - the method was to chew off the top portion and squeeze the juice out by sucking it...and simultaneously pressing it from all sides...
By the end of the process - we would have the juice smeared all over our face, chin, running down our hands upto our elbows, and maybe even our clothes...but the pleasure in that ....huuuhhh....just cannot come even close to describing it.

So why do I go down the memory lane...well this year I got some raw mangoes and decided to try my hand at some of the things that we can make using them...so was off on a spree of mango drink, mango salad, mango rice, and mango chutney....all with the green kairi or raw mango...starting with panna - green mango drink.

The sour taste of the kairi mixed with the sweetness of jaggery and the flavour of mint leaves and various seasonings gives us a very cooling and refreshing drink for the hot summer days and sultry nights...and here's how you go about it...

Ingredients:

1 medium to large sized raw mango
5-6 mint leaves
1 tablespoon jaggery - or to taste
1 green chilli
salt to taste
1 tsp rock salt
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp chaat masala
3-4 cups of water

Method :

Peel the raw mango, cut into pieces and pressure cook with a few peels ( for added flavour ) .
Remove the peels and cool the cooked mango retaining the water.
In a small jar of the blender, make a paste of the green chilli and mint leaves.
Add the cooled mango, chilli-mint paste, jaggery, and the seasonings in the blender and grind to a smooth paste.
Check the taste and adjust the seasonings if required.
Chill the above paste.
If you add less water while grinding then you can store the paste in the fridge for a long time ( about 7 - 10 days ) and use when required...by adding a few spoons of the paste to a glass, ice, chilled water.
Enjoy !!!
During the summer this is a lovely drink to have - next best to cold water :)....or cool lassi...we loved it, and hope that you do too...