This recipe is based on my mum’s go-to dinner party classic, which she’s been serving in the same crystal bowl for decades. It’s never once let her down. It’s made by poaching roasted wheat vermicelli in milk and cardamom, which creates something as comforting but not quite as rich as a rice pudding. I’ve updated her recipe by adding some ripe mango coated in saffron and honey, sharpened with a little lemon juice.
Lusciously ripe mangoes are best in this dish, and you can buy lots of types of wheat vermicelli. It doesn’t really matter which one you buy, but I tend to use the fine, long, hooked strands rather than the broken pieces for this pudding.
Serves 4
2 large mangoes
3 ounces thin wheat vermicelli noodles
2 tablespoons ghee or unsalted butter
3 cups whole milk
½ teaspoon ground cardamom (or finely ground seeds from 6 pods)
1/3 of a nutmeg, grated
generous ¼ cup sugar
a big pinch of saffron strands
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon pistachios, roughly chopped
Peel the mangoes, then cut off the fatter “cheeks,” slicing as close to the central pit as possible, followed by the chunks of flesh on the other sides of the pit. Then salvage whatever other flesh you can. Chop it all into ½-inch cubes.
Next, break up the noodles into small strands around a thumb-length long. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add the noodles to the pan. Stir-fry for 3 or 4 minutes, until the noodles turn almond brown—they can burn easily, so keep a watchful eye over them—then take off the heat.
Let them cool for a minute or two, then add the milk and put the pan over low to medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again. The mixture will thicken and bubble—when it does, turn the heat right down and add the cardamom, nutmeg, and sugar. Stir well and remove from the heat.
To make the saffron mangoes, put a couple of tablespoons of water into a small saucepan over low to medium heat and add the saffron strands. When the saffron starts to color the water, add the honey. Wait for the mixture to bubble and become syrupy, then add the lemon juice and the mangoes. Warm through for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat.
Spoon the vermicelli pudding into individual bowls, and top with the syrupy mangoes and a sprinkling of chopped pistachios. Either eat hot straight away, or refrigerate and eat when cold.
