Mango Sago

Growing up I had the privilege of enjoying ripe mangoes right from our backyard garden.  Monsoon season is the prime time for Mangoes in India, and the trees in our backyard yielded tons of mangoes.  As kids we wait for the rain to stop to jump outside and pick up all the ripe mangoes that got dropped by the wind and rain.  In my grandparents house, we used to collect these mangoes in baskets and big sacks.  These were then carefully segregated to remove the bad ones and the good ones were saved for preservation.  We would join to munch on these ripe mangoes, as adults of the household gets busy with cleaning and cutting the mangoes.

Here we wait for summer to get hold of some good mangoes.  Since I introduced mangoes to my kids at an early age, they love mangoes.  All mango desserts are a big hit in my family.  Among them are the mango popsicles, mango burfi, and mango cheesecake which are commonly made during the season.  We got the chance to taste some awesome mango sticky rice at the Global festival from the Philippines pavilion during our Dubai visit.  Since then kids been asking me to make them.  Mango Sago tasted from another local restaurant was also in my list to make.  When I got a box of super sweet ripe mangoes, I thought to make the Sago and it was an instant hit.  

I had already made this Mango Sago recipe multiple times and it definitely is a very easy dessert to put together.  Try this recipe for your next get together and your guests will love it.

Good fleshy and less fibrous mangoes are apt for this recipe.  I used the Altoufu mangoes for this recipe and it works out well.  The husked tender coconut that you get from Indian stores works out perfectly in this recipe.  We can use the coconut water as well and the tender coconut flesh for this recipe.

Serves 10 people

Ingredients

• 1 Tender Coconut 
• 1/2 tbsp - 1 tbsp  plain gelatin (refer notes)
• 2 1/2 tbsp  cold water
• 1/2 cup  small Tapioca pearls/Sabudana
• 5  ripe mangoes peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/3 - 3/4 cup condensed milk per your sweetness
• 2 cups coconut milk  (refer notes)

Directions:

Coconut water Jelly

• Poke hole into the eye of the tender coconut and collect the coconut water and strain to remove any particles from the outer side of the hole.  Carefully cut open the empty tender coconut and scrape out the tender flesh and reserve.
• Bloom the plain gelatin in a small bowl, by adding 2.5 tbsps of water to it and mix till it looks transparent.  Add 1/4 cup of the coconut water into the bloomed gelatin and microwave at 10 seconds burst till everything melts.
• Mix the rest of the reserved coconut water with gelatin mix in a 7 x 5 inch rectangle glass container.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours till its firm. 

Tapioca Pearls

• Add 4 cups of water into a sauce pan and let it come to a boil.  Add the dry tapioca pearls into the boiling water and cook till they are transparent.  Strain through fine mesh sieve and run cold water over it.

Assembling Sago

• Puree 1.5 cups of chopped mango with desired amount of condensed milk per your sweetness.
• Add the mango puree, cooked tapioca pearls, tender coconut pieces , rest of the chopped mango pieces and 2 cups of coconut milk.  Cut the coconut water jelly into small pieces and add to the mix.  Mix everything till well combined.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Serve it chilled.

Notes

• Gelatin - if you want a firm jelly texture use 1 tbsp of gelatin, otherwise you can cut it down to 1/2 tbsp.  If you are a vegetarian, substitute the gelatin with China grass.
• Coconut milk - I used dry coconut milk powder to prepare the milk - 4 tbsp per 1 cup of warm water.  You can substitute it with canned coconut milk or freshly squeezed coconut milk.
• Storage - The Mango Sago stays fresh for 2 days in the refrigerator.  It will taste the same if stored for more days, but there will be some color change due to oxidization.