No bake Mango cheesecake in mugs ...

This is a healthy dessert that can be assembled within 30 minutes. This time includes making of the fresh cottage/ricotta cheese for your dessert. Impressed?

Yes If you are making about 8 servings you have to boil a liter of milk and then curdle it using a mild acidic solution of either lemon juice or synthetic vinegar. The way we make paneer. Only the paneer will not be allowed to set and will be crumbled as soon as the whey drains.

ingredients...

full fat milk 1 L (you can use 200 gm ricotta cheese instead, skip the second ingredient in that case)
lemon juice or white vinegar 2 tbsp or a little more, dissolved in equal amount of water
sugar 2- tbsp (minimal for diabetics, or use sweetener of choice)
green cardamom one (optional)
fresh cream 3/4 cup ( I used fresh malai mixed with a little milk)
mango peeled and cubed 1.5 cups or a little more of you like a thicker mango layer
chopped pistachios for garnish, I use salted roasted pistachios to bring up the sweetness when the dessert is mildly sweetened

procedure...

Sugar and cardamom can be powdered together in a blender in advance. Or use castor sugar and cardamom powder to your taste.

If using ricotta cheese, skip the next twp steps.

Heat the milk in a pan and wait till it is just about to boil. A thin layer would be formed on top first and then the layer would start having a few fine wrinkles. Wait till the wrinkled layer is just about to fluff up and rise along the margins of pan. Lower the heat and add the lemon juice/vinegar solution to the boiling milk, slowly, a tbsp at a time, and stir the milk. Stop adding the lemon juice solution as soon as the milk curdles and the whey looks clear.

Take the pan off heat and pour it on a fine sieve placed over another empty pan. The solid paneer cheese will be used to make this cheesecake. The whey can be used to make pancake or muffin batters or even to make dough for daily bread.

let the paneer cool down so it is just warm, crumble using a folk or hands and shift it to the blender which you used for powdering the sugar and cardamom. Add sugar-cardamom mix to the mashed paneer, add the fresh cream and blend till it becomes a smooth thick paste.

Now use a spoon to plop the cheese mix into individual serving glasses or glass mugs and keep in the fridge to set. Covered with aluminium foil.

In the meanwhile, blend the mango cubes and cook in the microwave or in a pan till it just bubbles. Add sugar if you feel the mangoes were not sweet enough. I didn't use any.

Spoon this mango pulp over the cheese mixture in each one of those serving glasses. Cover the glasses with aluminium foil like this.

Keep in the fridge to chill. Serve when required.

The cheesecake keeps well for 4-5 days in the fridge surprisingly.

The base cheese layer is just like the Bengali sondesh, a little firm for a cheesecake but I like it in combination with a runny almost jelly like mango layer on top.

The husband likes his mango cheesecake very very soft where the cheese layer is creamy soft and mango layer is a bit firmer than this one. I make that version less frequently as I like this one more.

I am selfish yes :-)

But I am bringing that version too for you, as I made that too recently and took new pictures. Last years pictures have been waiting to see the light of the blog here as well. Next post is the soft gooey mango cheesecake with a grain free base layer.

Stay tuned.