Thursday, November 19, 2009

Mango Icecream(Kulfi) & Agave Nectar is it good or not??



I prepared this mango kulfi during the summer months without using any refined sugars. I use refined sugars very rarely in my cooking. I prefer natural sweetners like Jaggery(Panela), Raw Honey, Maple syrup and quite few times have used Agave Nectar also. I came across lot of debate going on about Agave Nectar if it is good for you or not.  Agave is it good or not, i am leaving it for your to decide and if you know more about it please let us know.



Agave nectar (sometimes called agave syrup) is most often produced from the Blue Agaves that thrive in the volcanic soils of Southern Mexico. Agaves are large, spikey plants that resemble cactus or yuccas in both form and habitat, but they are actually succulents similar to the familiar Aloe Vera. Agave syrup consists primarily of fructose and glucose. Due to its fructose content and the fact that the glycemic index only measures glucose levels, agave syrup is notable in that its glycemic index and glycemic load are lower than many other natural sweeteners on the market. However, the extremely high percentage of fructose (higher than that of high-fructose corn syrup) can be deleterious and can trigger fructose malabsorption, metabolic syndrome, hypertriglyceridemia, decreased glucose tolerance, hyperinsulinemia, and accelerated uric acid formation. Yes all natural sweetners, even fruits anything sweet contain fructose so moderation is the key. So let us know what you think about this sweetner and which do you think is the best natural sweetner.



Now coming to the recipe, greek yogurt is a good source of protein and calcium and i use it as a substitute for whipped cream in fruit salads, as a vegetable salad dressing and so on. I substituted half of the cream with greek yogurt and  it had really turned out nice. Instead of buying store made icecreams with so many preservatives, it least i was feeling glad that this is free of any additives, refined sugars etc.



Ingredients



Cream - 1 Cup

Strained Greek Yogurt - 1 (I Squeezed out the excess water from Greek Yogurt)

Evaporated Milk - 1 tin(140z)

Mango Puree - 1 and 1/4 cup

Chopped Nuts - 1/2 cup(Almonds, Cashew and Pistachio)(This is optional)

Raw Honey - 3 Tbsp or as per taste and the sweetness of the mango puree

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Saffron few strands



Method



1) Whip the cream for around 15 minutes till it becomes thick.



2) Now add the mango pulp, greek yogurt, honey, evaporated milk, nuts, cardamom powder and saffron strands and mix them thoroughly.



3) Pour into kulfi moulds or into plastic containers and place in the freezer overnight.



4) Dip the container in hot water for a few seconds, loosen the ice cream and enjoy.







Event Participation



1) I am sending my favorite ice cream to Cook for yourself event hosted by Radhika of Food for 7 Stages of Life.



2) This goes to Fall in love with Fruits for this Season hosted by Sanghi.

37 comments:

Sailaja Damodaran said...

looks very creamy & delicious...

Vrinda said...

Nice kulfi dear..even though its cold,i feel like eating it...Heard a lot abt agave nectar thru blogs,never tried...

kothiyavunu said...

Looks utterly yummy.. got to try this one and thank you very much for sharing.

munchcrunchandsuch said...

oh yum..I will not say a NO to these even if its snowing ouside..am gonna try this out sometime..btw, where can I get kulfi moulds?

Sanjana said...

I like to use agave nectar where I can but sometimes I use fruit sugar too. I like how you have used yogurt in this recipe... a healthier way to enjoy ice cream! :D

Chocolaty Lifestyle said...

I love mangoes! I guess they should work perfect in an ice cream! :)

Priya said...

I love using agave nectar, thanks for sharing many useful informations..btw mango icecream looks simply outstanding..

Mansi said...

don't know about Agave, but the kulfi looks great!:)

My cooking experiments said...

The icecream looks utterly delicious.Wise substitution.A novel idea there!

Tina said...

Wow so tempting dear....really very delicious...Never heard abt this agave nectar,,its a new information for me....

VS said...

Yummy scoops of icecream. Despite the weather & despite my weight losing strategy, I wanna dig in.

Parita said...

That sounds so easy to make, love the click looks so inviting!

Dhanya Ganesh said...

Kulfi looks creamy and rich without the eggs,I am drooling here....:).

Preeti Kashyap said...

Slurp!..this is awesome! Not using refined sugar is healthy of course. The pic looks amazing as well.

Renu said...

very nice recipe...nice idea of adding yogurt ! nice info on agave nectar

jayasree said...

Delcious kulfi. Has to wait for the summer to arrive along with the mangoes.

Vibaas said...

looks sooo yum. i never bought agave because i am scared that i will make more sweets then. but, i want to buy it now, atleast to try this.

Sharmila said...

Awesome looking kulfi! I am suddenly wishing for mangoes. :-)

Divya Vikram said...

Icecream looks creamy n perfect. I can have it even in this cold weather!

shanthi said...

yummy, creamy and delicious.

sangeeta said...

yes ..all high fructose sweeteners are suspicious for me....though i never used agave nector , i am against all this hype of usinf thes modern day improvised sweeteners..
i have grown a stewea plant n used it's juice for teas etc. but the extract i find aweful...n i feel it's btter not to eat any sweetmeats if you want to avoid sugar.
having said that if i make such kulfis or other sweets i like using dates n raisins for a mild sweetness n find it yummy.
for this mango kulfi i use just some milk powder n fresh mango pulp...blend together n freeze..turns out yummy n very good, so i feel adding something to dilute the natural sweetness of mango n then adding some sweetener is not needed...if we want to stay away from sweeteners i mean.
you do really a good job by raising such questions...i love it here...

Nandini said...

Slurp! I love mangoes in anything! It looks tempting!

Soma Pradhan said...

Rice and very cremey ice-creme..looks fabulous

Suparna said...

Hello :)
SOB SOB :( am wanting to eat the mango kulfi now....the clicks got me all droolz... yummm

Shri said...

Lovely one!

Gulmohar said...

Yummy and creamy...tempting click :-)

Padma said...

Looks so delicious and nice details about the nectar... have not used it much in my cooking. I like the way you substituted with refined sugar.. so can have this anytime without fear :)

Pavani said...

Hey Guys, Abt the bread getting soggy in the bread bowl, the bread started to get soggy but it still held its shape until we were done. :-) I would add the soup just before serving, but don't think we can avoid slight sogginess.

jeyashrisuresh said...

oops what an excellent and mouthwatering kulfi.nice click too.

sowmya's creative saga said...

that looks absolutely awesome..

Oraphan said...

Oh! That looks so delicious and inviting! I LOVE mangoes everything, you've just inspired me to give this recipe a try, thanks:)

meeso said...

Lovely recipe to find here... so sweet and tasty :)

Malar Gandhi said...

Whooo, what a drool worthy picture:) Love mango ice cream...lovely presentaion.

Preety said...

hey ice cream looks so tasty..i like all the replacements you use instead of refined sugar..

Spice said...

Nice recipe....I'm totally with u on store bought goodies loaded with preservatives....though in my family we try to cook most of the stuff from scratch but still many a times u need help from outside...rule of the thumb here which we follow....if the ingredient list is more than five, think....do we really need to buy this....and answer is usually no...and as far sweetner is concerned I stick with gur(jaggery), dark brown sugar & little bit of refined sugar(occassionaly for baking)...

Anupama said...

This ice cream has tempted me so much that I would have gladly made it immediately if not for the kulfi cups... too bad :-(... great click!

my kitchen said...

Delicious ice cream,pass it to me, finish with in a min

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