Mango Cardamom Granita

Still annoyed that I missed Pass the Cookbook Club link up last month – Oh Mexican inspired food.. I blame my age for all the forgetfulness. Anyways – this month’ pick was Slushed – a book with more than 150 frozen, boozy treats. Need I say more?I was very impatient to see different options from the book. We had Cuba Libre Granita, Strawberry Basil Gelato, Frozen Key Lime Margarita Pie but sadly none of those recipes worked for me due to the ingredients (I am not a rum or coke girl), lack of ice cream maker, and dislike for pies.  

…I almost did not participate this month but a ripe mango sitting on my counter top inspired me to create a granita with cardamom-sugar syrup. I have confessed my love for cardamom here before and pairing mango with cardamom felt very natural to me because while growing up I ate a lot of mango-lassi & mango-kulfi infused with cardamom. The granita was sweet and subtle warmth from cardamom made every bite luxuriously delicious. To fancy things up a little, I garnished it with fresh basil leaves from my little patio garden.

Granita is a very simple frozen dessert somewhere between a sorbet and a snow-cone. I love how it does not require any special equipment and only calls for fruits (or other ingredients like coffee, alcohol, soda etc), simple syrup, and a lot of room for your creativity.

serves: 2-3

Ingredients
1 ripe-mango (peeled and pureed- it yields slightly more than a cup)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar (use less or more depending upon your preference)
2-3 teaspoon cardamom powder
2 fresh basil leaves (for garnish, optional)

Directions
– In a small sauce pan, heat water and add sugar, cardamom together. Allow it to simmer until it dissolves completely. It reduces a little. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. 
– In a blender, pour mango puree and cardamom-syrup. Blend them until it is well mixed together. 
– Taste the mixture, adjust sugar/cardamom and put in a freezer safe container, cover it, and allow it to freeze completely. See notes for details on freezing.
– Use fork to scrape the granita and enjoy. 

Notes: On the Cuba Libre Granita recipe, it mentioned raking the granita mixture every 30 minutes to create icy somewhat granular texture before it freezes completely. I stirred only twice and the result was pretty icy and granular.  

Are you a granita, gelato or pie person?

Don’t forget to check out what other PCBC members are slushing this month.

April Pass the Cookbook Club: Pots de Creme