Mango Panna Cotta

Its raining Mangoes. How we love love Mangoes!! I have been wanting to make Panna Cotta for a very long time. 

Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert made by cooking cream, milk and sugar, adding gelatin and then cooling it down. It is an easy dessert to make and tastes yummy.

In this version of Panna Cotta, instead of gelatin, I have used agar agar. 

Ingredients:

• Ripe mangoes - 2 
• Cream - 200 ml 
• Milk - 250 ml
• Chopped Agar Agar strands - 4 tsp. 
• Warm water - 3/4 cup
• Sugar - 125 gm 
• Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp. 

Preparation:

• Soak the agar agar strands in warm water for 10 mins.
• In the mean time, peel and chop the mangoes. Put it in a blender and make puree otherwise called as coulis.
• Add cream, milk and sugar in a deep bottom pan and cook it on stove top on low flame. Whisk it in frequent intervals till it comes to a gentle boil. Make sure that the sugar has dissolved completely.
• Simultaneously, cook the agar agar and water solution on low flame till all the strands have dissolved completely.  Keep stirring it continuously.
• Once the agar agar strands have dissolved and the milk+cream+sugar has come to a gentle boil, pour the agar mixture into the milk mixture and stir it very well with a whisk.
• Cool the panna cotta mixture down for about 5 minutes. Whisk in the mango coulis into the panna cotta mixture.
• Pour the panna cotta mixture into greased serving bowls. Cover it with cling film or foil and let it cool down till it becomes warm. 
• Place the bowls in the fridge and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours till it is set.
• While serving it, top it with some chopped mangoes bits or even praline. 

I forgot to grease my bowls so I couldn't take it out the bowls. The panna cotta was set firm and what I loved was that it was not too sweet. 

If you are having a dinner party, then this dessert can be made a day earlier so that you are not bogged out on that day cooking the main course as well as the dessert.