Mango Bites with Raisins

It seems everyone has been bitten by the Mango Mania bug! I think it has something to do with the bumper production of this juicy summer fruit. Everyone I know is making mango goodies. Needless to say, I have been victimized too. I remember, as a kid I used to help my grandmother make  the quintessential Bengali mango goodie - 'Aamsottwo'. She would make several batches for her grandkids (lucky me!) so that it lasted the entire summer and then some. 

My job was to hold one end of the cheesecloth tightly that she would be using to extract the juice from the mangoes and then to keep an eye on the plates of 'Aamsottwo' which she would leave out in the sun to dry. 

My recipe is a little bit like my grandmother's 'Aamsottwo' but with a spicy twist. For this recipe I used ripe mangoes, the ginger and chili pepper added a hint of spice to it while the raisins added a bite and some extra sweetness. 

Ingredients:

• The pulp and juice of 2 medium sized ripe mangoes 
•  1/2 cup of raisins. 
• 2 teaspoons of grated ginger 
• 1/2 of a dried red chili pepper 
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 Cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of mustard oil

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with the chili pepper and grated ginger. Add the mango pulp and juice to it. (I used a grater to extract the pulp and juice of the mangoes.) Stir it continuously till the pulp caramelizes and turns a darker color. In a separate pan make some simple sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water and heating the mixture for few minutes. Add the caramelized mango pulp and raisins to the sugar syrup and cooked till mixture thickens. Spread it out on a plate and put it out to dry - preferably in the sun. Add a few drops mustard oil on the plate to grease it so that it would be easily slide off once it dries up. Cut it into desired shape and enjoy. 

Note: Do not refrigerate it before it sets.