This recipe for keri nu, no-churn mango ice cream, from Farokh Talati’s brilliant Parsi: From Persia to Bombay – Recipes and Tales from the Ancient Culture makes the perfect summer treat. I’ve written before about how Parsi was one of the best cookbooks I read last year, so now it’s time to share a recipe.
Farokh Talati’s Parsi
Talati is the head chef of my favorite restaurant in the world, St. John Bread & Wine. While St. John is known for its modern classic approach to English cooking, in Parsi Talati shares recipes from his Parsi-heritage, a rich mix of Persian and Indian influences. I didn’t know anything about Parsi people before this, and the book offers a beautiful example of weaving a more personal as well as a broader cultural history together through recipes.
Other recipes that caught my eye beyond this keri nu ice cream, are baked fish masala, fried potato cakes, prawn beignets, Parsi kedgeree, crab coconut curry, Parsi fried chicken, kheema, meat and potato stew, among others. I received a Dutch translation of Parsi from Farokh’s Dutch publisher.
Keri nu no-churn mango ice cream
I’m a simple girl, I see a mango recipe, I (want to) make the mango recipe. More so when it’s this easy. This will require a bit of sourcing. Though you should be able to find everything you need at a broadly oriented Asian supermarket, or an Indian supermarket of course. You’ll need tinned mango puree, preferably of the Alphonso or Kesar variety. When I found a tin it was 800 grams, while the recipe calls for 300, so I doubled the recipe, which wasn’t a bad idea anyway. I’ve shared the recipe in its original form below however.
Other ingredients that may be harder to source are the rose water and kewra water, while Talati says you don’t need the latter, I did go “Ooooh, that’s what that smell always is” and found it worth the effort of seeking out. I made my own rose syrup, a recipe I will share at a later date, but store-bought rose syrup is fine (or you can use the store-bought rose water to make rose syrup, also more on that on another date). The rose syrup and pistachios do really make this into an ultimate delight, in my opinion.
Variations on keri nu
I haven’t tried it yet, but Talati indicates that you can also use this recipe with equal amounts of blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, apricot, peach or papaja puree. Ideas I am personally not opposed to.
Keri nu no-churn mango ice cream
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Large bowl
- Whisk, hand- or standmix
- freezer container 30x20 cm and 4 cm deep at minimum
- Freezer
Ingredients
- 300 g mango puree preferably Alphonso or Kesar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 175 g fine granulated sugar
- 250 ml double cream
- 1 T rose water
- 1/2 T kewra water (optional)
- rose syrup to serve and taste
- pistachio nuts unsalted, roughly chopped, to serve and to taste
Instructions
- Spoon 5 T of mango puree into a small sauce pan and add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 175 g of fine granulated sugar. Allow the sugar to dissolve completely on a low heat to make mango syrup. Turn off the heat and add the remainder of the 300 g of mango puree.
- In a large bowl with 250 ml of double cream with 1 T of rose water and 1/2 T of kewra water (if using) and whip until the cream has doubled in volume and is forming soft peaks.
- Gently spoon the mangopuree through the whipped cream, until there are no more visible streaks. It's best to use a metal spoon for this, rather than a wooden spoon, this avoids beating any of the air out of the cream.
- Pour the mango cream mixture into a freezer container, cover with a lid and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.
- Serve as is or top off each serving with rose syrup and roughly chopped pistachios to taste.
Notes
- You can find mango puree, rose water, kewra water and rose syrup at most Asian supermarkets
- You can also make this recipe with blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, apricot, peach or papaya puree
