Mango & Coconut Frozen Yogurt (Soft Serve)

Summer in this region is not the season that we look forward to but the only thing that makes us to welcome it with the open arms is that it brings sweet, juicy, pulpy and aromatic mangoes with it! So despite the scorching heat we have to endure with, we never say no to the king of fruits known as Mango! :)

The mango season is in its last leg now so for the love of mangoes, I thought to share a few recipes that are my favorite and are prepared by using this lovely and flavorsome fruit as the main Ingredient. Pakistani mangoes are undoubtedly one of the most delicious kinds and we have over 150 types of mangoes cultivated and available around the country. Mango in its raw form is used to make chutneys and pickles and when its ripened, you can not only make different types of drinks, desserts, salads, cakes, curries with it but in my opinion, its the best fruit to eat on it's own at any time of the day. Yes, I even eat it as my midnight snack :D 

That's how we eat it :D

I like having frozen yogurt that I make at home. Its not only easier to make but healthy too since it uses 'real' ingredients and I can eat a bowl full of it without feeling any guilt. I have already shared the recipe of my homemade Strawberry-Banana Frozen Yogurt with you and you can check out its recipe here. So this time when I planned to make frozen yogurt (honestly speaking I don't plan to make anything but it happens in a whim of the moment most of the time) and when I chucked the fresh mango cut into cubes in the freezer, I thought why not give this 'ordinary' mango yogurt a little special twist by adding some coconut to it so, without any further ado, I took out some dried coconut from my pantry, soaked it into some warm water for a few minutes and the next thing I know that it was cut into pieces and was blending away into my blender jug along with the mango cubes and the other ingredients :D So, ladies and gentlemen, here I present to you my another love which is known as Coconut! 
I love coconut so much since I was a little girl that my first baby tooth fell out while munching on the piece of the fresh coconut that my dad brought for us :D It was kind of a weekly practice of bringing fresh vegetables and fruits from the local vegetable market in Jeddah, K.S.A and along with the other fresh produce bought, coconut was a must. We siblings sometimes used to accompany our dad to the market but I wasn't that fond of going to it cause of it being too big and crowded plus the smell mixed together of all the vegetation being sold there never fancied me. 

The cracking of the coconut, draining its water and then taking out the flesh of the fresh coconut from its shell was done by my dad always. It was always an interesting sight for me to witness. The fresh coconut water was given to us that we hardly used to get a sip or two of but my most favorite part was the delicious fresh coconut that I still love eating with a passion. Ah memories! Before I drift away with my memories, let's get back to the recipe :) 

I blended the frozen mangoes and coconut with the chilled yogurt, I tasted the mixture to check the sweetness and guess what, I decided to take it out into the serving bowl and have it as a soft serve :D the sweetness of the fresh mangoes, nuttiness of the dried coconut and a little tanginess of the fresh, homemade yogurt was something that couldn't stop me from eating it right away like a greedy kid :D

Let's get some froyo love unleashed today, shall we? :D

Mango & Coconut Frozen Yogurt (Soft Serve)

Ingredients:

Unsweetened Plain Natural Yogurt: 2 cups (thick and preferably homemade. Greek yogurt can be used too) 

Fresh Mangoes: 2 medium sized Dried/Fresh Coconut: 1/2 cup (cut into small pieces)

Sugar: according to taste (leave out if the mangoes are sweet. I didn't add any)

Lemon juice: 1 tbsp.

Fresh Mint Leaves, Desiccated Coconut, Mango Cubes : for garnishing

Method:

1. Peel the mangoes, slice them and discard the core. Now cut the sliced mangoes into small cubes. Put them into a freezer safe box or a zip-lock bag and freeze for a couple of hours.
2. If using the dried coconut, soak it into the warm water for a couple of mins to soften it and then cut it into small pieces without any difficulty.
3. Take out the frozen mango cubes from the freezer and put it into the blender jug along with the yogurt, coconut pieces, lemon juice and sugar (if using) A hand-held blender can be used too for this process.
4. Whiz/blitz all the ingredients together for a couple of mins till everything is well combined.
5. Take out into the serving bowls, garnish and serve immediately.

Serves 4 Notes:

1. If you don't wish to have the soft serve then follow the instructions of Strawberry-Banana Yogurt on the blog.
2. The reason of adding coconut into the small pieces is to have tiny bits of it into the yogurt at the time of serving. Desiccated coconut can be used instead if you do not wish for any texture.
3. Coconut can be omitted altogether for those who doesn't like it for any reason.

That's all mango lovers! :) the amount of ingredients can always be adjusted according to your taste and desire. I hope you enjoy making and having it. Until next time, keep sharing the goodness of this greatest blessing, that has been bestowed in abundance upon us the lucky ones, with the less fortunate ones.
Thank you and please remember in your Du'as/prayers! :)

*Not be duplicated, rewritten or published without permission- Thank you!

And the remaining of the soft serve that I made two days ago and was frozen. I took out some and enjoyed while typing this post. Such bliss! :D