Vegan Mango Coconut ice-cream/An Indian Summer.

It's that time of the year. OK. That sounds gross, thanks to all of the traumatizing 'time of the month' adverts.

But it is a sad time of the year, altogether. It's when I have to say goodbye to mangoes.

I used to think that it was supremely unfair that mangoes were available only three months a year. I love the damned fruit, I really do. Even more than I like bananas and pineapple. At long last, however, I realize that there is a God above, who wants me to be able to fit into my clothes, and somehow eating a whole mango a day doesn't leave much room for that.

So I'm frantically making as many mango recipes as I can. Sweet, savoury, decadent, fresh. Making and eating it all. You know what I really enjoy though? The mango seed, with little bits of flesh on it. I can feast on it for an hour, not unlike a hungry crow. The heart wants what the heart wants.

And since we're on a health kick (albeit a manipulated version of healthy), I thought I'd make a Vegan Mango ice-cream/sorbet thing that I can eat without thinking "oooh-yum-oh-no-sigh-mmm" and similar. You can make this with Indian pantry ingredients and a Braun hand-blender/mixie. No ice cream maker, no nothing.

Vegan Mango ice-cream:

Ingredients:

2-3 ripe mangoes, cut into chunks
100 ml coconut cream/milk
juice of 2 lemons
5 cardamom pods, crushed
Honey/Stevia/Sugar, if necessary.

Method:

I used a mix of Alphonso and gorgeous, gorgeous Himayat mangoes!

Puree the mangoes to a pulp.

Add in the coconut milk.

I used a mix of coconut cream and a lighter milk.

Add in the crushed cardamom, lemon juice and honey and blitz with the processor once more.

Bring to boil, hoping that the lemon won't curdle the coconut milk. It won't. When thick, take it off the heat.

Pour into a freezer-safe container.

Freeze until it is rock solid.

You can scrape the ice cream with a fork and make granita.

Or beat the frozen ice-cream once more and freeze. Repeat the whole process two more times.

Serve with mint, crushed Nice biscuits (yum!) or chopped pecans, and some more cut mango bits. I don't have a fancy photo of the end product, but trust me?

Farewell,  my sometimes-yellow, sometimes-orange/green/red, mostly glorious-golden-skinned friend. See you soon. And not just because I have a few kilos of pulverized mango pulp in the freezer.