THE LAZY MAN’S SORBET

Kesar mango sorbet with lime and dark rum.

My friend Gary and I have got sorbet-making down to a science.

Gary’s been at it for a while and his repertoire continues to grow by leaps and bounds just as the people who eat his sorbet grow by leaps and pounds.  Bittersweet chocolate, tangerine-chocolate, cherry, raspberry, pear, pineapple - he’s done ’em all.  And they’re all ridiculously good.

It’s not complicated, really.  You take fruit, cook it down, purée it, strain it, and add simple sugar syrup and any optional flavorings.  Then you chill the mixture - preferably overnight - and freeze it in an ice cream freezer.  Bingo: sorbet.

But now I’ve found one that’s even easier to make.  I call it the Lazy Man’s Sorbet, because no cooking, puréeing, or straining is involved.  I speak, of course, of mango sorbet.

Peeling and extracting the flesh from mangoes would be a royal pain in the arse, even if no cooking were necessary.  But that’s the beauty of this sorbet - none of that worky-work is required.  All you do is score a can of mango pulp at the local Indian or Middle Eastern grocery and you’re good to go.  Not only is it puréed and strained, it’s also already sweetened; you don’t even need to waste time making simple syrup.

I used a 30-ounce can of kesar mango pulp, which has a wonderful orange-yellow hue and sweet ripe mango flavor.  (Other varietals such as alphonso mango are also available as well.)  To prepare it for the freezer, all I did was add the juice of half a lime and a couple of tablespoons of dark rum before chilling the purée.  That’s it!  And it freezes beautifully.

Betcha this stuff would be great blended with a little yogurt to make an ice-cold mango lassi.

Got an ice cream freezer?  Feeling lazy?  Go on - you know what to do.