Mango Jelly (Jalea de Mango)

Mango is originally from India but you can find this tree in Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, Paraguay, China, Colombia and Italy. This tree do not require to much water, so it can survive in very dry climate and resist fire

A very important note for many is that mango is low in calories and provides to our body a good amount of antioxidants, vitamin C and B5. Mangoes are good for the hydrates of carbon metabolism and help to heal skin problem.  It is easy to digest and could help you to go naturally to the toilet if you eat too many.

 You can find mango from May to July.

In Venezuela you can find different types of mangoes, some of them are small that we call "mango du-du" that has the size if a plum or very large mangoes that we call "mangas", we have the one that we call "criollo" or "hilacha" that you can find abundantly, I remember that I lived in a house were we had about 5 mango trees, in San Tome. And we have "injertos" that are the product of  combination of different types of mangoes, this is the one that you can find in the groceries. Mangoes are so abundant in some areas in Venezuela that you are tempted to think that mangoes are from  South America, but not, they were brought by the Spanish during the colony and now is part of our culture, food and desserts.

Jalea de Mango ( Mango Jelly) is a desert that almost every Venezuela has made or eat, this is one of our typical desserts. It is the combination of mango, sugar and lime juice. Very easy to make and it is a great dessert at any time.

JELLY MANGO RECIPE

10 - 12 green mangoes (2-1/2 - 3 kg)

14 cups water

3/4 Kg sugar
2 teaspoon of lime juice

Method:

1. Wash the mangoes very well.
2. Place the mangoes in a big pot with enough water to cover them.
3. Cook the mangoes until the mangoes skin break, about 20 minutes.
4. When ready take the mangoes out of the pot, place them in a strainer and let them get cool.
5. Take the skin off the mangoes with your hands, the skin still have pulp, use a mesh strainer to  get all the pulp from the skin. Remove the pulp from the seed using a spoon, pass all the pulp through a mesh strainer. Put the pulp aside.
6. Weight the pulp using a kitchen scale, you need only 1 kg (2.2. lb) of mango pulp. All ingredients in this recipe are based on 1 kg of mango's pulp ( you can make juice with the rest if you got more that 1 kg) 
7. Use a heavy pot to make the mango jelly. Put the pulp in the pot, the sugar and the lime juice. Mix well. Let it boil with  high fire, stir constantly with a long wooden spoon, when stir DO NOT do it in  circular way, to avoid the crystallization of the sugars or burning. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes.
8. Remove from the fire, pour it in a heat resistant glass mold (Pyrex), previously dampened (use warm water)
9. Let the mango jelly get cool and turn over the mango jelly on a tray.

Note: You can use a single square tray or individual trays. The consistency of the Mango Jelly allows you to cut pieces of the jelly very easy.


Delicious Mango Marmalade