Mango Mousse

I tried this mango mousse for the first time yesterday. It was a great hit. About 20 days back I tried Strawberry mousse, but was not good at all. All because I did not know how to activate the china grass. Was completely lost. After reading a lot about china grass, I finally decided to take another chance and made this with canned mango pulp. :) China grass is available in many forms in various places. While in Dubai, I was apprehensive of trying gelatin, so I was literally hunting for China Grass for 2 weeks. Finally found China Grass in one Indian store. But it was not a bit like the one I used in India. I remember buying China grass once upon a time for making ice cream. This one was literally like white strands of grass. I tried powdering it in a mixer and immediately put it in water for boiling. Did not work, it did not dissolve too. It was standing out and staring at me. It was only later that I realized that china grass needs to be soaked in hot water for 10 minutes. For activating china grass, you have to bring the soaked china grass to a rolling boil. It takes about 5 minutes to dissolve.  Imagine my husband's reaction :P , he was like -- you seem too keen on experimenting on me. ha ha ha :)) But, he was very happy with the outcome. So lets proceed to the recipes.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 5 minutes
Setting Time : 6 hours 
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Alphonso Mango Pulp - 1 1/2 cup
Whipping Cream - 1 cup
Icing Sugar - 1 tbsp
China Grass / Agar agar - 1 1/2 tbsp, chopped into bits
Sugar - 4 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup

Procedure

1. I used the ready canned alphonso mango pulp. If you choose to use the fresh mangoes instead, peel them, make bits, blend them, sieve the thick pulp to separate the fiber and take it out into a vessel.
2. Add the sugar and lemon juice to the mango pulp and blend well.
3. Boil the water in a vessel.
4. Add the china grass bits to the hot water. Let it soak for 10 minutes
5. Meanwhile beat the whipping cream till it holds stiff peaks (Refer notes)
6. Add the icing sugar towards the end and continue beating
7. When it holds stiff peaks, add the mango pulp mixture.
8. Boil the water with the soaked china grass till it dissolves completely and starts turning gelatinous.
9. Allow to cool for 2 minutes and add to the cream, mango mix and give a quick blend.
10. Pour into individual cups / glasses and set to refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

 

Notes:

1. This mousse is soft and more like a custard pudding. I whipped the cream till it had soft peaks. If you whip it till it holds stiff peaks, then the texture will be even better.