Ingredients
Mango
- 3large unripe green mangoes, about 700 g
Seasoning
- 150 gsugar or jaggery, to taste
- 2 tsproasted ground cumin
- 1 tspblack salt, kala namak
- 1 tspsalt
- ½ tspground black pepper
- a large handful mint leaves
To serve
- cold water and ice
- extra mint
- a pinch of black salt on top
To serve
- in the hot months, before the monsoon
Directions
- Use hard green mangoes with white or very pale flesh and no sweetness at all. They should be rock hard and intensely sour, and a partly ripened mango gives a bland, sweet drink that is not aam panna.
- Put the whole mangoes in a pot, cover with water and boil for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Cook them whole and unpeeled, which keeps the flavour in rather than leaching it into the water. They are done when the skin wrinkles and splits and the flesh has gone completely soft.
- Squeeze the softened mangoes with your hands and peel the skin away. Discard the skin and stone and mash the pulp smooth, or blend it briefly. Now the pulp keeps, which is worth knowing.
- Freeze it in an ice cube tray and blend a cube or two with water for a single glass. Roast whole cumin seeds in a dry pan until they darken and smell strongly, then grind them. Blend a large handful of fresh mint leaves into the pulp.
- Use fresh mint rather than dried, and use plenty, since it is a main flavour rather than a garnish. Blend it in rather than steeping it, which extracts far more. Aam panna should be sour first, then sweet, then salty, with the cumin behind everything.
- Add sugar gradually and taste as you go, since mangoes vary enormously in acidity. Make the concentrate stronger and more assertive than seems reasonable, since it is diluted heavily.
- Mix two or three tablespoons of concentrate with a glass of cold water and stir well. Taste and adjust the dilution, since preferences vary a great deal. Serve it very cold over ice with a sprig of mint and a pinch of black salt on top.
Technique
- The mangoes must be completely unripe, hard and sour.
- The pulp concentrate keeps a week refrigerated or months frozen.
- Black salt gives the savoury edge that ordinary salt does not.
Substitutions
- Jaggery in place of sugar, which is more traditional.
- There is no real substitute for black salt.
Variations
- Made with fire-roasted mangoes, for a smoky version.
- With a pinch of chaat masala added.
- Made with ginger as well as mint.
History
Made when unripe mangoes drop in the north Indian summer and drunk as protection against heatstroke.
Frequently asked questions
What is Aam Panna?
Aam Panna is a drink from India: tart green-mango cooler seasoned with roasted cumin, black salt and mint. Made when unripe mangoes drop in the north Indian summer and drunk as protection against heatstroke.
How long does Aam Panna take to make?
Aam Panna takes 15 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 glasses. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Aam Panna?
Yes, within limits. Jaggery in place of sugar, which is more traditional. There is no real substitute for black salt.
What is the most important thing to get right in Aam Panna?
Put the whole mangoes in a pot, cover with water and boil for twenty to twenty-five minutes. Cook them whole and unpeeled, which keeps the flavour in rather than leaching it into the water. They are done when the skin wrinkles and splits and the flesh has gone completely soft.
