Aam Panna (Spiced Mango Drink)

Aam Panna is a refreshing drink made with green mangos, salt and spices. It's a popular drink in India to beat the heat.

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What is Aam Panna?

Aam panna is a popular, slightly tart drink in India known for its cooling effects in the intense Indian summer heat.

Aam is the Hindi word for mango, and the fruit of unripened, green mangos is the main ingredient. This drink also uses jaggery (sugar), and spices - usually cumin, and salt.

Most of us eat mangos that are ripened, so we're more familiar with their silky sweetness. But the mangos in aam panna are still green, which lends a tartness to the drink. The color of the mango, when peeled should be a pale green.

The color of the drink is from a pale yellow - green, depending upon how much water you add to the mango concentrate. The concentrate itself is a thick, murky brownish-green liquid.

Can I use Brown Sugar in place of Jaggery?

Jaggery is a sugar commonly used in Indian cooking, but isn't as easily found elsewhere - or at least not in my small town in Nevada. Jaggery is a concentrated product from a combination of sugar cane juice and date palm tree sap, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in color. Some say it's similar to the Latin American panela.

Brown sugar, much more readily available where I live, can be substituted, but is sweeter than jaggery. So, when seeing a recipe calling for jaggery, like aam panna recipes on the internet, start with ½ the called-for amount, if you substitute brown sugar.

I make my own brown sugar, and found that I needed to cut the amount of sugar by about 30 - 40%.

Note: The recipe below uses brown sugar. To achieve the same sweetness, you'll need 2 cups jaggery, assuming the mango fruit is a pale green. Because there can be a range of tartness to an unripe mango, I recommend starting with less, and adding more as you taste it.

How to Soften Green Mangoes (Raw Mangoes)

Green, unripened mangos are very firm, and need to be softened for this drink. The goal is to be able to puree the mango to a sauce-like consistency. There are a few ways to do this.

1. Place whole mangos in a large pot of water and lightly boil until softened, about 1 hour. This is the method I used. Some do this with unpeeled mangos, as I did, or they peel them first using a sharp knife.
2. Boil whole mangos in a microwave-safe bowl plus water until softened, about 10 - 15 minutes.
3. Cook them in a pressure cooker for 6 - 8 minutes.
4. Roast the mangos over a flame, such as a grill. This gives the drink a slightly smoky flavor.

Variations to Aam Panna

As with many Indian recipes, the recipe can change from home to home in India. Roasted cumin, for example, is a very popular spice to use. But I'm not a gigantic fan of cumin, and used cardamom instead. Some homes use mint, others do not.

What doesn't change is the tangy flavor it gets from the raw (unripened) mangos, sugar and salt.

It's difficult to find mangos in the United States that are truly raw mangos. Even when you peel them, the fruit may be a pale yellow in color. As you can see in the above photo, even though the mangoes I found were completely green, the pulp on 2 of them was a pale yellow. And the finished purée was a bright yellow.

If that's your experience, you may need to add lemon juice to achieve the hallmark tangy flavor of green mango. I also experimented with lime juice, but lemon juice was much better.

Health Benefits of Aam Panna

The primary health benefit Aam Panna offers in in preventing dehydration and replenish salt lost through sweating in summer heat. It's particularly popular in the super-hot climate of Northern India.

Unripened (raw) mangos are a great source of pectin, which gradually lessens with the formation of the center stone. When mixed with honey and salt, raw mango is considered highly beneficial in treating gastro-intestinal disorders.

Holi

I made this drink in honor of Holi, the Hindu Festival of spring. It begins this year on March 28 and ends on March 29. It is carried out in remembrance of Holika and signifies the victory of good over evil. And it's also called the Spring Festival, as it marks the arrival of spring.

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