Summer special - Ras doopdi !

Come summer and Im transported back to Indian summer - heat waves, scorching light, whirring fans , unbearable endless days ,but...one thing which would almost compensate ... the mangoes ! Those small local green-orange-reddish mangoes , bucketful of them , squeeze and suck off the juice kinda mangoes...sweet and sour...warm and juicy..dribbling down our chins...eat till you get sick mangoes !!

Those alphonso mango boxes my mom in law used to order from Ratnagiri , just for me...those cool magno pieces sliding down my parched throat...bliss !

[sigh] Thats the one and only thing I miss about Indian summer [sigh]

I have tried those mexican mangoes and all other kinds I see in markets sometimes but none of them hold a candle to Indian varieties and taste..

I forbid my family in India to talk about the mango season they are enjoying...though I do want to hear about all the mango fun they are having [contradictory me!]

Neways, so when I went to Indian store recently I picked up couple of cans of those mango pulp - though I never like the artificial sweetness and the metallic taste...it never tastes the same..not even near...but what option do I have ??

I added some green mangoes and re-pureed with the tinned juice - to add some sourness and freshness to the pulp..

and had it with some doopdi(2 layers) or rather cho-pudi(4 layers) in my case .. these are layered parathas that I've seen only in marwari households I think - those 4 layers are cooked together and the real skill is that each of them seperate out once its done...the end pieces are crispy while the inner layers are soft ,fresh tortilla like and lend a very different and unique taste with the ras (mango pulp).

These are generally called 'doopdi' but can be made upto 7-8 layers and it brings a smile to my face to remember that one of my bhabhi attributes teaching her this special skill , to me :) .. you are just born into somethings..arnt you...