I WAS WANTING TO SHARE AN EASY RECIPE TODAY!
And that it has to match with the current situation in the family circle; one of the closest someone is on the way to "Anantlok", may be to meet our father who the person adored, just a matter of time! I would divulge the details only when the right moment comes! There is less of pain & agony, terror in such goodbyes that are on time! Yet, the death of your own is never a matter of joy! Memories are not letting me stay in the greatest of mood! If I have a bit of humanity left in me, what is happening within is the right thing to happen! To remain positive in such a situation, we should do what we enjoy doing! In my case, it is cooking & I am doing that! I am cooking from my blog & updating the earlier recipes! You must do something fruitful to keep yourself sane! In my case, the thought of not earning a penny kills me! But such thoughts have not sent me to a trauma, you believe it or not, the man never taunted or made a mockery of me within the four walls of our home, neither in front of his friends! Has he had, I perhaps would have been earning by now; lazy bones like me are required to be pushed, motivated, encouraged! Even on this day, I dream of doing something; but sitting at home! I do not know how to but I do not wish to mingle with many, may be I want to do it as and when I wish to, in my style!
YESTERDAY, WE HAD THE SIMPLEST SUNDAY MEAL!
Ever since the son left home, we do not really eat special on Sundays! In fact, I used to go out & get some burgers or sushi or sandwiches or chicken rice for the man! For many months it has stopped, he does not have much of interest, I feel lazy to go out over the weekends, unless we are going together somewhere! But seriously, we enjoy every bit of our stay at home, the son too has gone after us in this matter! For me it is natural, but the man hails from a home where it bustled with visitors almost everyday or they had invitations somewhere! Coming from there, he enjoys sitting in the couch & watching the television! Within a family, the members should have some areas of interest in common, else it becomes difficult to stay together under one roof! See, how I found happiness cooking a stuffed flatbread yesterday for our lunch or having a humble dinner with "shutki mach, dhyarosh bhaja, dal"! I was supposed to make omelettes but was feeling sleepy & lethargic! They would never argue or demand anything, I do not even know what the son eats, he never wants to discuss!
WHAT IS THIS AAMSOTTO?
You can call it my kind of toffee! The kind of Bengali family I hail from, having "dudh diye aamsotto" / dried ripe mango bar pieces in milk is common! I am not feeling comfortable calling it mango leather! I have never seen my family preparing it at home ever, it was always store bought! A bar would always be stored in the refrigerator for cooking a relish or had in milk throughout the year! There came a time, poor quality of them thronged the market, yet the family did not make it at home but had fixed shops to buy from! Then, after marriage, I tasted one pack the man's friend Mitty Matthew got us from Vizag, how pure & tasty it was! A couple of time Mitty & Anjana got it for us whenever they visited us in Kolkata! In the past 12 years, I did not see these ripe mango paste bars in this island! Only last month, I saw them at the Mustafa Centre! By that time I was determined I would try making it at home & here it is!
We can say, AAMSOTTO is a vegan, gluten-free sweet or dessert snack bar! It is made from cooked ripe mango pulp, then sun-drying it! I cooked in less quantity fearing wastage! How to forget the local trains or stationary stores selling small pieces of aamsotto wrapped in cellophane paper that attracted me more than any other variety of toffee! When we arrived to this island, we found sugar coated dried mango pieces, it became a regular snack for the son until he left home, I got less of them later as they were too sugary! If you use good quality, ripe & sweet mango variety, you can use way less sugar in your aamsotto!
RIPE MANGO : 3-4 STANDARD SIZED
SUGAR : 2-3 TBSP [USE MORE AS PER YOUR REQUIREMENT]
LEMON JUICE : 2-3 TBSP
PROCEDURE :
I have watched videos, read recipes of others throughout the internet but did not take note of whose!
May be the lemon juice works as a preservative? I have always considered lemon as a taste & flavour enhancer with the power of enhancing our mood!
All we have to do is buy good quality, very sweet ripe mangoes, wash them well!
Thereafter, we would peel the skin and extract the pulp & discard the seeds!
We will take the pulp & sugar in a heavy bottomed vessel, boil it at low heat for quite sometime, stirring every 3-4 minutes to avoid burning from the bottom!
As the mixture thickens, we would add the lemon juice and stir further for 3-4 minutes! We will take it down!
We will grease a plate with oil & pour the mixture on it! Thereafter, we will sun dry it for 4-5 days!
Then we are to cut them in desired shapes & have as is or use in sandesh sweet making or in chutneys, Bengali style!
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