Aamras (Keri no ras) & Pad (Padwali Rotli)

The flavour of summer in India! What do I say about it? It makes an ordinary meal special, it makes the fussy eater ask for seconds, it brings a boring meal to life. Here's how a Gujarati makes it... And yes a simple rule of thumb if you are making it for a Gujarati - make lots, a Gujarati never eats 1 tiny cup it as dessert, he'll have seconds, thirds and fourths during the meal!

Pad (padwali rotli) is usually eaten along with aamras. The speciality of this roti is that it has two thin layers. A layer is called pad in Gujarati. Pad is also made for naivedya and as Navratri prasad along with kheer. 

Ingredients for aamras:

Fresh and ripe Alphonso mangoes

Water

Powdered sugar

Dry ginger powder (optional)

Ghee (optional)

Wash the mangoes thoroughly. Score them and peel the fruit by pull the skin by grabbing one end. The skin will come off from between the scoring marks. This is the fastest way to peel a mango. 

Take a large vessel to put the mango flesh, you will be puréeing and making the ras in this bowl so keep it atleast 3 times as large as the pulp volume. Cut the flesh into cubes and squeeze out all the pulp around the seed. Using a hand blender make a smooth purée. Add water according to thickness desired. Do not add milk, then the ras tastes like a milkshake. Add sugar to adjust sweetness. Refrigerate till chilled. Do not put ice as it will dilute the aamras. 

To serve put a ladle full of ras in a bowl. Top with a teaspoon of ghee and ginger powder. Ghee is added as aamras is considered a dessert (mishtan) and ginger powder is a digestive (so you can eat as much as you want without any side effects).

You can store leftovers by freezing it in a ice tray. Make smoothies or shakes with these. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Pad:

Roti dough

Ghee

Wheat flour

Take a ball of dough and flatten it with your palm about 1 1/2 inches diameter. Apply ghee on this and sprinkle flour on top. Take another flattened ball of dough and place on top. Roll it out and cook like a regular roti. Apply ghee on top and serve.