Mango Curd

Oh my…I am going to face a bad day. I bought four mangoes and had totally forgotten about its existence. Suffocated in a plastic bag it spent almost two days when I suddenly bumped in to them while cleaning my kitchen counter. Yea I am to some extend a forgetful lady who sometimes keeps her mobile phone in the refrigerator or the butter in the Micro-oven. Yea, yea I know. You must be thinking I am exaggerating. Oh no absolutely not. And this might be the only reason that often I am bashed down in a vocal war with my Man due to my forgetful nature (Now he writes everything and stick it on refrigerator so that it should not skip my mind- Aha good solution to avoid the Home Wars. :P). Ok now the moral of the fact was when I picked up one Mango and served to the lil one she instantly rejected. To her, the taste of the mango was too sweet and different.  So I tried a bite. Yeww… It had become over ripen and due to that it was leaving a kind gassy taste and acidic too. Now what to do with the remaining mangoes!!! So I took a whole day to decide what can be made with these (For you people who think Food Bloggers are genius, they know everything, they make recipes instantly blah blah – Here is the proof  they are not – I mean I am not But I know many who are really a genius).

I didn't want to discard the expensive mangoes. The man shouted a bit (As lil K disclosed the secret that she was not able to eat the Mango..grrrrr). And I silently digested it. The next day the idea clicked to make Mango curd. To be fare I have never made Lemon curd or either Mango curd. So I started browsing through the net. And got a recipe after my mind and hit it. Frankly speaking the gassy smell still was remained in the curd. But I did like it with some crackers or just as it is after the meal.  So I came to this conclusion if the mango is over ripen it is OK to make Mango Curd. But if the carbon dioxide raises high in the mango it is better to discard. Or if you have some better Idea then please share with me.

My Food Photography Experience:

Now onward I have thought of sharing how I am learning Food Photography and  trying to improve it.

# For me the first thing one should learn is to FOCUS the main object of a dish which actually is considered as a hero.

# Once you are well versed with focusing objects then you should start concentrating on syncing the whole picture with LIGHT. Trying clicking from every angle. And you will understand from which position you are having the best focus.

#I have started my journey first with the PROGRAM Mode and with the basic lens that comes with camera by default. Then I move on to the 50mm/1.8ft lens. It is the cheaper of the lot and I swear best for Food Photography mainly for the beginners.

# Each dish should have a story. And according to that you should create the background and arrange the props.

# I bought simple and cheap Masonite Boards and colour them to use them as by back grounds.

# Keep some piece of different types of plain colourful and designer clothes, one can use them also as the background.

# I always share it that click in that way so that the picture should not need to get edited. If needed just balance the highlight and shadow that’s all.  For beginners editing in Picasa is the best one.

This much for today. On my next post will share more…Now lets move on to the recipe:

Ingredients:

(Yields approx 1 & 1/4 cup)

{Recipe adapted from HERE}

Mango - 1 large ripe and cubed

Buttter- 6 tblspn
Sugar -1/3 cup  

Lemon Juice- 1 tblspn
Lemon Zest - from one small lemon

Egg- 3

Method:

1.  Blend the Mango cubes in a blender and make a puree. Reserve.

2. Melt butter in a Kadai/deep dense pan. Add sugar, lemon juice,  and  lemon zest. Cook over medium heat. Keep on  stirring, until sugar gets totally dissolved and the mixture comes to simmer. (Please see Note: #3)

3. Add the Mango puree and bring to boil.

4.  In a separate bowl whisk the eggs one at a time. 

5. Take the Mango off the  heat and gradually whisk in the egg and fold nicely. 

6. Again put the mixture on heat and cook over moderate heat. Keep on stirring continuously to avoid the lumps. When it will start to bubble and the consistency turns a bot condensed then take it off the heat and cool. (Please check Note: #2)

7. When it is completely cooled down pour the mango curd an airtight container  and refrigerate for  at least 2 hours and then serve it. You can have it with bread or crackers or you can make tart and fill it with Mango curd. Some grated chocolates or some fresh chopped fruits too goes very well with it.

Note:-

1. I have made this out of 2 mangoes and used 5 eggs.

2. After the Mango Curd is done it is recommended to run it through a fine sieve to get rid of the lumps if formed any. I have skipped that part. 

3. I would recommend to add half of the sugar first and then the other half after adding the mango pulp. Because if the mango is too sweet then the addition of excess sugar may make it too sweeter. So first taste the sweetness and then add the remaining sugar as much needed.