Desi Mango Tiramisu

Recipe contributed by: Sandhya Luhana, Gujarat, India

The recipe contributed here is by my Bua (Dad's sister) and she is one of the few best cooks I know. I am so lucky to have had the privilege of tasting the food prepared by her. The other day she told me she already has 4 diaries full of recipes and counting. You can imagine her expertise and command on the ingredients in the kitchen! She has been a constant inspiration to me being such a perfectionist and spreading delight wherever she is. I love you, Sandhya di! I would like to thank Shweta (my cousin) for taking wonderful pictures of the recipes that does justice to her mom's cooking. Love you too!

The term 'Desi Mango Tiramisu' is actually coined by the mother-daughter duo :). This recipe is on my to-make list in the near future. You really can't go wrong with such ingredients in the list. Marie biscuits, Vanilla custard and Mango, what's not to like? And the different textures just makes it all the more interesting for the taste buds. The quantities of ingredients are good for a deep pan with the dimensions of the regular bread loaf pan. Adjust ingredients according to your container size.

Serves: 5-6
Difficulty level: Easy

Ingredients:

3/4 liter Whole Milk
4 Tbsp. Vanilla Custard Powder
1 1/2 Big, Ripe Mangoes, Cut in small cubes
10-12 Marie Biscuits, Broken in small pieces
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

Method:

1) Take the custard powder in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of the cold milk from the 3/4 liter of milk. Mix it well so there are no lumps. Keep aside.

2) In a thick bottomed cooking pot, heat rest of the milk and let it come to boil. Keep stirring in between to make sure the milk doesn't burn in the bottom. Once the boil comes, lower the heat and add sugar. Let the milk heat for another 5-6 minutes.

3) Mix the custard mixture again as it tends to settle down if sitting for some time. Mixing continuously with one hand, add the custard and milk mixture to the hot milk. Keep the heat very low and keep stirring for another 5-6 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the custard mixture cool down for 45 minutes to an hour at room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator to set for around 60-90 minutes.

4) Once the custard is set, divide the custard, mango and marie biscuits in two equal parts.

5) In the pan you are planning to use, make a layer of marie biscuits. Top it with a layer of small cubes of mangoes. Next, make a layer of the custard and repeat the layers for the second time.

6) Garnish it with slivered almonds, cover and let the layers set in the refrigerator for another hour or so.

Cut it straight down vertically to serve and show off the layers :)

Don't have time to prepare the custard? The instant way to prepare with different texture is to use vanilla ice cream instead of the vanilla custard. My bua suggests to add a little Gulkand (if you have some) on the top as the fusion of flavors just makes it more delectable.