Best Mango Cardamom Nice Cream

This Mango Cardamom nice cream is the perfect healthy dessert to replace your regular heavy ice cream. Relish this simple, easy-to-make recipe when you have those dessert or ice-cream cravings. It’s easy to whip up and you can make it in no time.

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Ummm, what’s Nice Cream?

Nice cream is very different from regular ice cream. For starters it’s called nice cream because a) it’s nicer for your health b) it’s made with frozen fruits (not heavy cream) and c) it’s vegan since we’re not adding any animal-based milk. And anything vegan by default tops our charts because caring for the animals and the environment is our utmost priority.

Nice Cream was first used to describe a soft-serve type ice cream, where instead of heavy cream, chunks of frozen fruits were blended and gave it a rich custard-like consistency. Eventually, when people realized the health benefits of having this naturally sweetened dessert, the demand for it has blown up considerably.

If you want to get your hands on these gorgeous coconut bowls by @coconutbowls, use my code “BEEXTRAVEGANT10” to get 10% off.

This mango cardamom nice cream came out of me discovering a bag of frozen mangoes in my freezer and decided on making this quick-as-a-flash recipe because sometimes I need to chill out.

Also, if you’re wondering about these cute little bowls and spoons in the pictures above, Coconut bowls gifted me their handmade coconut bowl and spoon. Hence, I took that as the perfect excuse to relax and enjoy a nice flavorful nice cream in these beautiful, eco-friendly bowls.

Inspiration for Mango Cardamom Nice Cream

Did you know that India is the number one mango-producing country in the world where we produce over 18 million tonnes or in other words – 50% of the global mango supply. Isn’t that crazy?

Mangoes and I have long-existing chemistry, and there is no way I will give up a chance to incorporate mangoes in my recipes. Mango season is the time when my true love for this fruit overpowers logic and reasoning. Sipping on a good Mango Lassi (viz. a cold blend of yogurt, spices, sweetener, and fruits) on a hot summer’s day is absolute heaven. You would know what I am saying if you have experienced that bliss in a glass. Check out how I make my Mango Lassi .

So, for this particular recipe, I decided to give it a twist of my own – make it into a Mango Cardamom Nice Cream.

Why Nice Cream, you ask?

Well, regular ice cream requires heavy-duty or powerful ice cream machines, long processing hours, and, let’s not forget the sugar overdose in each scoopful. On the flip side, Nice cream needs blending frozen fruit until smooth with a few tablespoons of maple or agave syrup (if you have a sweet-tooth but otherwise the fructose in the fruits is enough to satiate the need). How easy does that sound? It’s an absolutely no-nonsense dish and ready-to-eat, as long as you have a bunch of fruits frozen in your freezer. Even if you don’t have a stock of frozen fruit, you could always freeze some overnight.

Many prefer having this over regular ice cream due to the ease in whipping this up. The best part is you can experiment with different fruits, depending on how creamy they get after freezing. You can get that soft-serve-like consistency by using and balancing out the thickness with extra plant milk. For example, bananas become really creamy after being frozen and are the perfect partner in making the best smoothies and milkshakes. Similarly, you can use any fruit that you like, not necessarily mangoes. Here I have chosen mangoes to satisfy my cravings and obsession with these tropical fruits. But it’s up to you to jazz it up with the fruit of your choice.

How to make Mango Cardamom Nice Cream (Tips and tricks)

Fruits

I froze the mangoes in my freezer well before the cooking time. The trick is to keep a batch of frozen fruits – ready to go. An easy way to keep a stock of frozen fruits ready in your freezer would be to cut fresh fruits into chunks and freeze them in airtight containers. Alternatively, you could freeze them in a ziplock bag by pressing out all the air and sealing it shut. Fruits can be stored up to 6-9 months in the freezer if done the right way. Now that you have a stock of frozen fruit ready, all you need to do is find that auspicious day when your Nice Cream cravings are at a peak point.

Spices

My advice would be to keep a stock of cardamom powder if you are a regular consumer like me. It’s easy to prepare, all you have to do is to shell the cardamom, crush them into a fine powder and store it in an air-tight container (so that the powder does not lose the flavour and potency to oxidization). This will last you upto 4 years if stored properly.

Plant-milk for consistency

Frozen milk cubes are the key to incorporating that frothy, ice-cream-like consistency in our Mango cardamom nice cream. Instead of adding chilled plant-milk, we are using milk cubes will make the nice cream colder and creamier. You can keep a batch of frozen plant milk in your freezer, and use them as and when you like. I am using soy milk from @soy for this recipe but you can use any other plant-based milk.

Sweetener

My go-to sweetener in smoothies and nice cream is maple syrup but you can sub it with agave syrup. If you are lucky, you might get a good batch of sweet mangoes then there is no need to add extra sweetener. The mango will do its job perfectly.

Now all you have to do is combine the mango, cardamom powder, frozen plant-milk cubes and maple syrup in a blender until smooth and creamy. Depending on how powerful your blender is, you can adjust the timing from 3-4 minutes or 5-7 minutes. Totally depends.

Do a taste test to check for consistency and sweetness. If required, add some more chilled plant-milk to make it into a soft-serve-type consistency. Serve it in pretty bowls because we are fancy. Enjoy!

If you want a more authentic Indian Ice cream recipe then checkout this Vegan Kulfi recipe to beat the heat 🙂

Mango Cardamom Nice Cream

Ingredients1x2x3x

• 1 frozen mango
• 4-5 cardamom pods (shelled and crushed) or 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 9-10 cubes of frozen plant milk
• 1-2 tsp of maple syrup or any plant syrup

Instructions

• Put all the ingredients in a blender. And blend away.
• Add extra plant milk to get the soft-serve- consistency.
• Serve it fresh in your favourite bowl.
• If you prefer, you can top it off with your favourite garnish like nuts or fruit pieces.

Coconut chutney and dosas are a match made in heaven! Coconut Chutney is a quintessential South Indian condiment that pairs amazingly with south Indian breakfast and snack items like Idli, Dosa and others. Here I share a classic coconut chutney recipe with a spice tempering. Learn how to make this south Indian side dish with my easy-to-follow video as well! This is an addictive condiment and I bet you will keep coming back for more.

What is Coconut Chutney?

Chutneys are a type of dips/condiments that originates in India and can be made from a variety of different ingredients like coconut, peanut, tomato , coriander, tamarind, onion etc. All of these delicious savory dips and sauces are used to enhance the experience of meals.

Coconut chutney originated from the south India and has different versions from different parts of south India. It is most often served with breakfast or with snacks.

How to make Coconut Chutney

The easiest way to make it is by finely grinding fresh white coconut meat with either green chillie peppers or dry red chilie peppers and adding salt to it.

Chillie peppers lend a bit of heat and flavour in the chutney. Garlic or ginger are also added for more depth of flavour. The final tempering of oil with crackled mustard seeds, dried red chilli peppers, some shallots, fresh (or dried) curry leaves and brings more flavor to otherwise plain coconut chutney. One can also add fried urad dal (black gram) and hing (asafoetida) for more depth in flavour.

Substitutions and tips

Coconut: You can sub with roasted peanuts and make a peanut chutney. You can also just use rehydrated dessiccated coconut but it wont be the same.

Tempering: As mentioned before, tempering can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish it to be. You can skip out whatever is not available to you.

Shallots: Shallots have a more subtle taste, so if you want to replace it with red onions then make sure to par-cook it on a skillet before blending it into the chutney to avoid a stron onion-y taste

How can I store coconut chutney?

Just store it in an air tight jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen. Make sure to take it out of the freezer and place it in the fridge the night prior to usage.

I hope you give this easy south Indian chutney a go and let me know! You are going to love it, I am sure of it!

Other chutneys and from the blog:

1. Beetroot Coconut Chutney
2. Tamarind Chutney
3. Vegan Raita
4. Mint Corriander Chutney
5. Spicy Red Kaara Chutney
6. Tomato Onion chutney

Homemade Coconut Chutney

Ingredients1x2x3x

• Base:
• 1 cup grated Coconut
• 2 shallots
• 1 knob ginger
• 2-3 green chilli as per taste
• ½-1 tsp to taste
• ½ cup water
• Tempering:
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1 dried red chilli
• 7-8 curry leaves

Instructions

• Blend all the ingredients for the base and set aside.
• Heat oil on medium heat and add the ingredients for tempering.
• Once everything smells fragrant and crunchy (around 2-3 minutes), add this tempering to the blended chutney base.
• Serve the chutney and serve with dosas or idlis.

Enjoy this South Indian treat and follow @beextravegant for more delicious recipes!!

Here’s an Indo-Chinese-inspired chilli garlic noodles recipe that you can try on a cold chilly afternoon. I am obsessed with this dish and I cannot stress the fact that this here is the comfort food you’ll need today.

Inspiration for Chilli Garlic Noodles: India’s favourite cuisine (Indo-Chinese)

Indian-Chinese food dates back to the 1700s when the Hakka traders from China settled in Calcutta – the then capital of British India. Kolkata, or Calcutta was one of the first cities in India to start an Indo-Chinese restaurant. Chinese immigrants who moved to India for work opportunities started cooking their food. They used locally sourced ingredients and customizing it to the Indian palate. Eventually, this Sino-Indian cultural fusion spread all around the country like wildfire. As the years went by, people began experimenting with different ingredients and christened each dish in an Indianized manner. Dishes like the Gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian or Schezuan fried rice are localized only to India and not to the Chinese culture.

This cuisine has been subtly adapted to the Indian palette to suit the fiery tastes. It includes a variety of ingredients, an explosion of flavors, Chinese sauces, and spices that makes the cuisine super appetizing to eat. Thus, began the birth of a line of dishes that made a beautiful impact on every Indian’s heart. I want to bring this beautiful amalgamation of India and China onto your plates.

Why is Indo-Chinese food so popular?

The exquisite Indianness and unique cooking style infused in this cuisine makes it so spectacularly popular. We also love eating anything that feels familiar. This cuisine was built on very specific regional flavors and ingredients and is the perfect Indian interpretation of Chinese foods. Ingredients like Paneer (Indian cottage cheese), potatoes, cauliflower, spring onions, cabbages, bell peppers, etc are used to create dishes with a Chinese twist. Thus, dishes like Veg Manchurian, Spring rolls, Schezwan noodles, Manchurian soup, Gobi Manchurian, Chilli Paneer, and many more came into existence. Indians and spices have a special unbreakable bond. We love anything that makes our tongue feel like it’s on fire. Trust me!

Indo-Chinese dishes satiate the cravings for spicy foods quite perfectly. Spices, condiments and aromatics like garlic, chilies, MSG, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar give the dishes that extra zing which will make you go for a second helping.

Here’s my version of Chilli Garlic Noodles that has the right amount of spice and an overdose of yumminess.

How to make some Delicious Chilli Garlic Noodles ( Tips and Tricks)

Prepping the Noodles

I used Wheat noodles here but you can use of buckwheat noodles or rice noodles too depending on your choice. Make sure, though, to prep them according to their respective cooking methods.

The trick behind getting the right texture for wheat noodles: cook the noodles to 70% doneness before draining. It gets cooked further once the noodles are added to the wok along with the other ingredients. If you cook them completely while boiling, you will be left with soggy, overcooked noodles completely ruining the dish.

Red Chilli Paste

The red chilli paste is the secret behind the spice, reddish tint, and vibrancy of this dish. If you love spicy food like me, then make a large batch of this homemade chilli paste. Store it in an air tight container in the fridge. You can use this paste in other dishes as well. Pour it into soups, use it as a spread for sandwiches, use it as a marinade or add some vegan mayo to make a quick dip for your nachos etc.

I made a fresh batch of red chilli paste for this recipe. Soak the dried Kashmiri red chillies (easily available in any indian store) in hot water for 15-20 minutes till the chillies soften up. Grind it into a fine paste with garlic and water to maintain a paste like consistency.

Vegetables

You can use any vegetable that catches your fancy – zucchini, cauliflower, green peas, french beans, mushrooms – ANYTHING! I am sticking to carrots, bell peppers, capsicums, scallions, and cabbage. Before you get chopping, let’s run over the thumb rule – the thinner the better. We also want our vegetables to be in a similar size since we are cooking with thin noodles. The reason we cut them uniformly is to ensure an even cooking rate. Hence, get your chef’s knife out and julienne the heck out of these veggies.

MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer that is has been used in Asian cooking for ages. It imparts a pleasant savoury taste or umami to dishes. You can definitely skip it if you don’t wish to use this ingredient.

Making the Chilli Garlic Noodles

As the name Chilli Garlic Noodles suggest, this dish here has loads and loads of garlic – because we’re obsessed.

Check out other recipes from the blog:

• Easy Chana Masala(Vegan and Gluten-free)
• Easy One Pot Daal Recipe (V, GF)

Delicious Chilli Garlic Noodles

Ingredients1x2x3x

• 1 Pack Wheat noodles or gluten-free option
• Water for boiling the noodles
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 8-10 Kashmiri dried red chilies
• 3 tbsp Garlic (minced)
• 2 cloves Garlic (chopped)
• 3 tbsp Garlic minced
• 1 tbsp Ginger minced
• 2-3 Green chillies sliced (optional)
• 1 Carrot julienned
• 2 cups Red green, and yellow bell peppers julienned
• ½ cup Shredded cabbage
• 1 tsp Soy sauce
• ½ tsp Sugar
• 1/3 cup Scallions sliced
• 1 tsp Rice Vinegar
• Fresh coriander leaves a handful
• Salt to taste
• ½ tsp MSG optional

Instructions

• Boil noodles according to instructions on the packet.
• Once boiled, drain the water and rinse in cold water.
• Drizzle oil to coat the noodles and to avoid sticking.
• Set the noodles aside
• Prep the Chilli Garlic paste by soaking the Kashmiri red chillies in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Let it cool and set aside.
• Transfer to a blender with 2 garlic cloves and blend it into a fine paste.
• Add some water to occassionally to get a paste like consistency. Keep aside.
• Set a wok on medium heat and add oil. Once the oil is hot enough add minced garlic & ginger and saute for 1-2 minutes
• Then, add the red chilli paste prepared before hand and cook until the oil separates
• Now add the green chillies and chopped veggies while sauteing them continuously
• Once the veggies have softened down a bit, add soy sauce & sugar.
• Sauté on high flame for 1-2 minutes
• Add MSG (if using) for a delicious umami flavour
• Add boiled noodles, scallions, fresh choppped coriander and vinegar
• Stir & toss well on high flame for a minute
• Serve it hot in your favourite bowl

Mango Cardamom Nice Cream

Ingredients1x2x3x

• 1 frozen mango
• 4-5 cardamom pods (shelled and crushed) or 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 9-10 cubes of frozen plant milk
• 1-2 tsp of maple syrup or any plant syrup

Instructions

• Put all the ingredients in a blender. And blend away.
• Add extra plant milk to get the soft-serve- consistency.
• Serve it fresh in your favourite bowl.
• If you prefer, you can top it off with your favourite garnish like nuts or fruit pieces.