Aam Panna/Panha is a popular summer cooler in the Northern parts of India. It is a lovely refreshing drink and is also known to fight the intense heat during the summer months.
Raw mango, fresh mint and some spices are used to make this healthy beverage. Back home in West Bengal it is known as the “Aam Porar Sharbat” which translates to a “cooler made from roasted mangoes.” I cherish memories of my grandma roasting the mangoes in a coal oven. While I never had the green mangoes boiled to make this drink till I came to this country where alas the traditional coal ovens were missing, it is not uncommon in the northern regions to boil them. It does work both ways, but the nice smoky touch would be missing if boiled. Walking back many years from now, we sleepy heads were often woken up after an afternoon siesta with this cool green very flavorful drink or had it like a mid morning snack.
Every ingredient here plays an important part in contributing to the taste, flavor and texture. The raw unripe mango is tart and pulpy, the mint is the usual summer favorite for the cool and the fresh, cumin makes it smoky and the rock salt adds the flavor which cannot be substituted by any other. Some like to heat it up slightly with some chili pepper, but we like to keep ours just sweet and tart.
Aam Panna/Green Mango and Mint Cooler
Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)
- 2 large raw (and unripe) mangoes
- approx. 4 glasses of water
- 1 cup crushed ice
- 1/2 cup sugar or as per your taste
- black salt/kala namak/rock salt
- 1.5 teaspoons lightly roasted cumin seeds
- 1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
- 1 green chili pepper, optional
Preparation:
To roast the mango: Wrap the mango with a foil and roast it in the oven at 350 degree F till the flesh is soft. Alternatively (my favorite way to have it – roasting in open fire adds a wonderful smoky flavor to the drink) roast the whole mangoes over an open flame, till the skin gets charred and the flesh is soft. The charred skin peels off easily.
To boil: Pressure cook the mangoes for 1-2 whistles or for 5-8 minutes. Let the cooker cool down. OR simmer the mangoes in a pan in enough water to cover the mangoes till the flesh is soft and mushy.
The pulp of the cooked/roasted mangoes should be soft. Peel the skin and remove the flesh/pulp from the mango. I usually squeeze the pulp from the stone.
Combine rock salt, sugar, roasted cumin, chili pepper (if you are using) and mint leaves in a processor till they are powdery and smooth. Add the mango pulp to this and blend/process/puree it till smooth.
Add about 6-8 tablespoons to a glass of chilled water. Stir well and serve chilled with ice and garnish with more fresh mint.
(Alternatively if you are going to serve immediately, blend the pulp, salt, sugar, mint, cumin, water and ice together.)
You can store the extra pulp in the refrigerator up to 5-7 days in an airtight glass or plastic container.
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Its raining mangoes in your blog 🙂 love aam panna..nothin more satisfying than a chilled glass of aam panna in summers! Lovely presentation as usual!
This is interesting! Spice in a cooler, I will have to explore! Thanks for yet another excellent recipe
Wow super interesting drink….
Very refreshing I’m sure! A great drink!
Cheers,
Rosa
This is a very particular cooler, with chili and roasted mango will be particular even more…I’m not sure I will like spices in my drink, but I will give it a try…to this and to onther indian drinks I read about, all with spices…
The spice thing scary me a little bit and to add that salt even more…it has such a unusual flavor! I have it but I still don’t know how to use it…
Aam Panna is an excellent cool drink to beat the heat. Beautiful presentation Soma…
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Like the idea of roasting the mango in oven and making this drink. I normally boil and make it.
Beautiful Presentation Soma.I too hadmade this vbut my brain could never come up with such an inviting presentation.I add spices but never the mint.Excellent cooler this is .
aaah..panaahhh
simply delicious & refreshing…..
Beautiful drink Soma. I did not know that raw mangoes were roasted for this drink. I can imaging the taste then.
Will any kind of mango do for this drink? The ethnic markets in my area mostly carry small yellow ones (sold as chanpagne mangoes) and larger green and red-skinned ones from Central America. We have been eating them when ripe and sweet, but I’m fascinated by the idea of using green mango too.
Not any kind will work. This has to be Unripe and Raw ( I had not mentioned that it should be unripe in the post, but i have updated it). The ones you mentioned are the ripe & yellow inside. We have not seen the raw unripe ones here other than in the Indian groceries or sometimes in Mexican grocery stores. They are all darker shades of green on the outside and very very hard to feel. The inside is white and NOT at all juicy.. will be like any vegetable. If you have access to Indian grocery store you will find them. if they don’t have it during this season, they would have run out. Ask them if they will get more.
This drink has a taste you have to get used to. The roasted cumin and the rock salt has very unique and strong flavors and using the salty stuff and the spice is not something someone is usually used to….esp. in a sweet cooler. but give it a try! and play around to see what you like and don’t like in it. The mint is a lovely thing during summer.
Hahaa finally I know what to do with all the unripe mangoes they sell here :))) seriously! This drink sounds extremely exotic and interesting. And looks very refreshing!
Beautiful drink, looks marvellous..
A very refreshing drink and a great way to beat the heat 🙂
Paradise in a glass! All that mint! Seriously spa worthy! It’s 104 here today – beam me over, Soma! (I know; it’s steamin’ where you are, too. ; D)
Wow, great job here. Awesome picture too! You should really consider submitting this to Recipe4Living’s Summertime Sipper Contest! It looks delicious
Aren’t we glad summer’s here, if only for the mangoes! I love Aam Panna, your is not yours alone anymore, I grabbed a glass already.
I love green mangoes,Soma!!! I don’t find them here in CT. This looks sooooooo good!
The drink looks great Soma. The spices with the raw sour mango should go very well together.
Panna looks lovely!!
I love the combination of flavors here, sounds very refreshing!
Perfect for hot summer now 🙂
Looks yum n so refreshing…
Aah .. crushed ice in aam panna! I do not like mint … so it has no place in my kitchen and blog. :p
Ekta thanda glass bariye debe … just realised am khub thristy. 🙂
Love all these wonderful mangos! This drink looks so refreshing — wish I had seen this earlier. It would have been a perfect addition to our 4th of July party!
I love this Soma– the flavor of the green mango is to die for. What a lovely and refreshing picture!
I didnt know the mangoes had to be roasted, very interesting. This reminds of the roasted coconut water I had in thailand. Love the color of your drink and it looks perfect for the summer.
Roasted coconut sounds extremely intriguing! The only way I have had roasted coconut is in a shrimp curry where the shrimp is filled in coconut (but not the green coconut) and roasted.
Interesting. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to find an unripe mango here. This drink is definitely not like anything I’ve ever had before.
It is an unusual drink I suppose where the unripe mangoes are not easily available. We grew up with this drink and mangoes. If you have access to grocery stores from the Indian Subcontinent you might be able to find unripe mangoes there, esp. now that it is the season.
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