Mango Rolls Ups
This recipe is part of my nostalgia series. It’s made of mangoes that have been pureed, reduced and dried.
Having spent some time with my mom and aunt over the past couple of weeks have made me reminisce about my childhood and some of the people, who were in our lives, but are now gone. Food tends to pop up in our memories because taste is one of our sensory memories. So certain foods can be associated with certain memories of people. The food that I craved most when I spent time with Mom and Aunt was dried mango rolls. Not because either ladies made mango roll, but because spending time with them made me miss my grandparents. Grandma was known for her mango rolls. They were the best.
Unfortunately, Grandma is no longer with us and cannot share her recipe with me. However, I gathered it would be a simple recipe. Some of the best recipes are. Typical Asian dried fruit is simply fruit and sugar. Even most homemade fruit roll-ups or fruit leather recipes here are just that; some combination of fruit and sugar.
I decided to use brown sugar since, I figured they probably use palm sugar is Southeast Asia. I didn’t have any on hand and brown sugar was the closest thing in refinement and molasses level. And since I used brown sugar, I also added cinnamon. I’m sure Grandma didn’t have cinnamon in her recipe, but I thought it would bring a nice warmth to the recipe. I made the cinnamon optional in the recipe though.
Notes for the recipe:
- You can use any variety of mangoes you like. That includes the box of mangoes you bought from the Asian market and can’t seem to eat it fast enough.
- After dissolving the sugar and reducing the puree slightly, you can dry in a dehydrator, in the sun or in the oven (as I did). Drying in the sun is the traditional way, but it may take days.
- In the oven, check on the mango roll after 2 hours or so. It should be dry, but still slightly tacky. If you over bake it will crack and be very tough.
- I also found that when cutting the sheet, it was easier to use kitchen shears.
- You can line the baking sheet with the silicone mat, nonstick aluminum foil or I have seen people use saran wrap with sucess as the it is baked in such low heat.
Mango Roll Ups
Yields: 10 – 3×4 rectangles
3 cups mangoes
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- Puree the mangoes until smooth.
- In a medium sauce pan add the mango puree, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture reduces slightly, about 7-10 minutes.
- Pour mixture onto lined baking sheet and spread as even as possible.
- Bake in oven, preheated to 200F, for 2 and a half hours until it is dry to the touch, but still slightly tacky.
- Allow to cool slightly before cutting with kitchen shears. Roll and store completely cooled roll ups in air tight container for up to a week.
