Aam ras

Aam ras is a thick, sweet drink of ripe mango pulp, the pressed and strained flesh of fully ripe mango loosened with a little milk or water, sweetened to taste and often scented with cardamom, saffron or dry ginger. Deep golden-orange and pourable rather than watery, it is richly fruity and honeyed, closer to a drinkable purée than a thin juice — a fixture of the western Indian summer, eaten from a bowl with hot puris as much as sipped from a glass. Unlike the tart raw-mango aam panna or the yoghurt-based mango lassi, aam ras is simply the ripe fruit itself, barely diluted. In its plain form it is vegetarian, caffeine-free and, when made with water, vegan.