So Mango season is slowly creeping upon us, and I'm breaking into my happy dance already. Srsly! I love the fruit, and I think I've made that pretty clear when I did my Mango based recipe run. Here's a Cauliflower Kabab Recipe I made recently, a Mango Chorizo Sandwich
and a Chick Pea and Indian Mango Summer Salad which is by far my favorite 'salad' to have, it's more like a side tho!
Well, the Mango madness might still ensue and carry over onto this year, I just don't know yet, but I do know that I couldn't keep my hands off (and neither could my little man) off of these first few Mangoes of the season. They were ripe, fleshy and quite sweet, and we decided to shake it up a bit this time, for our Sunday evening smoothie ritual.
It was time for a Mango smoothie but with the fragrant essence of Cardamom and a dash of Vanilla, and we kept it Vegan by using Almond Milk too. The smoothie is based off of a simple milk shake I grew up drinking in India and my mom used to make it with a dash of ice cream or creamy whole milk and nuts and we really treated it like a dessert. I wonder why she never thought of adding Cardamom which is pretty much a customary spice to add to most Indian desserts.
Once you try Cardamom you can't go back. You wouldn't want to! As soon as you pop open a jar of the pod spice, you're hit with this mildly sweet, and bit woodsy scent, coupled with some notes of star anise. Crack open the pod and try a seed, and it almost tastes slightly minty—the reason why sometimes it's used as a mid meal mouth freshener.
Adding a tiny bit of Cardamom and some Vanilla goes a long way in complementing the sweet notes of the Mango! Just scoop out the flesh of 2 Mangoes, add a dash of Vanilla, and some powdered Cardamom seeds, and the Almond milk and you're done!
Top with some pistachios if that's your jam! This smoothie is for EVERYONE, really. And my munchkin...He loooved it! Let's see if you can tell with these photos 👇and that gif up top ☝️
3 Ingredient Vegan Mango Cardamom Breakfast Smoothie
Makes 2 large smoothies
Ingredients
2 ripe Mangoes
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 cups Almond Milk (or any other nut beverage of your choice. If you don't care about vegan, add Milk)
Pistachios (optional)
Slice the mangoes by running the knife all along the sides above the large pit/seed and below it too. The Mango has a large pit on the inside as big as the fruit itself. Don't kill yourself trying to cut it perfectly, it takes just a little practice and my dad taught me well ;)
Scoop out the flesh of the Mangoes with a spoon into a cup.
Break open 4 Cardamom pods and remove seeds. Crush the seeds in a mortar pestle, till they're fine and powdery.
Transfer, the Mango pulp and the cardamom, Vanilla and Almond milk into a blender and blend till absolutely smooth. About 2 mins.
Serve cold.