Mango Yogurt Parfait

Have I mentioned that I love mangoes yet! The trouble with mangoes is that I can never usually make anything out of mango, once I smell one and then cut it, that's it, I have to devour it! So when I saw two food blog events that had mango as a theme, I thought I would try something different.

I thought of making something like a shrikand, which is an Indian dessert made out of yogurt and sugar, but it is strained using a cheese cloth to get a rich creamy texture. I was feeling impatient so I used Greek style yogurt instead, and made a parfait using cashew nuts toasted with cardamom and brown sugar for the crunchy part.

I really like how this came out and how it smelled. The cardamom cashew mixture was very aromatic and the saffron in the mango and yogurt gave it that extra something. Next time, I would perhaps use a single layer of plain yogurt to bring out the mango color and make it look more interesting.

Here is how I made it.

Ingredients (makes 1 big serving):

1 ripe mango
1/2 cup of Greek style yogurt (I used fage yogurt - the non fat kind)
3 to 4 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cashew nuts
1 teaspoon butter
a few strands of saffron

Method:

Peel and chop mango into small pieces. Put about 2 table spoons of the chopped mango in the freezer, and blend the rest into a puree and set aside. Soak saffron in about a tablespoon of warm water. Peel cardamom and discard shells, grind the seeds into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Mix ground cardamom with brown sugar and set aside. Melt butter in a small pan and toss in chopped cashew nuts, stir to cover cashews with the melted butter. After a minute or so, add the sugar and cardamom mixture and stir to cover cashews, take off heat and let cool. Place yogurt into a bowl and stir using 2 or 3 quick strokes to get a consistent creamy texture. Pour in saffron along with water. Use a spatula to fold in the saffron, when incorporated fold in the pureed mango. Next, layer a tall glass with cardamom cashews, mango saffron yogurt and fresh mango from freezer. If you can resist, refrigerate for a couple of hours before eating. I could not and devoured it right away!

I am sending this post to Chris at Mele Cotte, who is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Cinco de Mango! Check out details here. http://melecotte.blogspot.com/2008/04/cinco-de-mango.html
Also check out this site for other mango ideas. http://nationalmangoboard.com/

I am also sending this to The Left Over Queen for April's Royal Food Joust where this month's ingredients were, mango, cardamom and brown sugar. Check out details here. http://www.leftoverqueen.com/forum/index.php?topic=5.0

Update: Chris has created quite a buzz with the Cinco de Mango event. Check out the round up and all the great mango ideas! http://melecotte.blogspot.com/2008/05/celebrate-its-cinco-de-mango-round-up.html

Cardamom ready for grinding.















Saffron soaking.
















Can you see my parfait layers?