I was watching Nigella Lawson on television the other day. She was cooking and feasting as she seems to do in most of the episodes and she was making Granola that particular day. She then made a parfait with some frozen raspberries (I think), topped it with the granola and served it up for breakfast.
I thought this was a great idea of a recipe with the contrast of creamy and crunchy and an extremely good way of starting the day with fruit and a calcium rich breakfast! Actually, I ‘d be happy eating it at any time of the day, and would definitely welcome it as a light summertime dessert.
I decided to use mangoes instead because mangoes are in season right now and I’m always ready to eat this fruit any which way. I also don’t get raspberries here.
It’s the mango season here in India and the perfect time to make this. I pureed fresh mango and froze it for this recipe. By the way, pureeing fresh mango and freezing it is a nice way to extend the mango season right into the monsoon!
In case you’re wondering why this Mango Parfait sounds more like a thick smoothie with the yogurt in it, a Parfait is different things in different countries. Traditionally, it’s a French frozen dessert made with sugar syrup, egg, alcohol and cream, and the name comes from the French word for “perfect”!
In the UK, it’s a meat dish (really)!! In the US and Canada, they’re usually layered desserts similar to sundaes and involve ice-cream or cream. Yogurt Parfaits are however made with yogurt, granola and fresh fruit.
The recipe for the Home-made Crunchy Granola is adapted from the Joy of Cooking and I have personalized it using ingredients that I usually have in stock in my kitchen.
Easy Mango Yogurt Parfait With Home-made Crunchy Granola
Ingredients
For the Crunchy Granola:
- 4 1/2 cups oats
- 3/4 cup almonds *
- 3/4 cup cashewnuts peanuts halved or shelled
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds melon seeds or (magaz)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup jaggery brown sugar powdered /
- 3 tbsps sunflower oil
- 1 1/2 tsps cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 1/2 cups wheat flakes (I used Kelloggs)
For the Mango Yogurt Parfait:
- 1 xbd cups mango puree , frozen
- 1 xbd cups yogurt fresh thick , chilled
- 2 bananas small
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- For the Granola : Loosely spread the mixture (in not too thick layers) onto two greased trays and bake at 170C (325F) for about 40 minutes until it is a nice medium brown colour. Stir the mixture a couple of times while baking to ensure uniform browning. Do watch the granola to see it doesnu2019t burn. Mix in the raisins and the wheat flakes as soon as you take the granola out of the oven. Allow to cool.
- When taken out of the oven, the granola will be a bit soft, but will become crunchy on cooling. Store in airtight containers.
- We like our Granola a little less sweet, but if you would like it sweeter then you could increase the amount of brown sugar/ jaggery to suit your taste.
- For the Mango Parfait : Put the bananas, mango puree, yogurt and vanilla in the blender and blend till smooth. Layer the parfait and granola in parfait glasses and top with granola. Otherwise just pour the parfait into the glass and top with the granola and serve.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
Great entry! Looks healthy and delicious.
lovely recipe. looks so delicious and healthy.
i’m watching her make a chocolate decadent fudge cake right now – god! it looks amazing!
you really love cinnamon. i envy people who are eating ripe mangoes right now. we get not-so-good ones here.
nice parfait….that home made granola recipe is a keeper
This is the first time I made granola and I’m going to many times over! The least I could do , Susan. Hope you enjoy it.Missed that cake, Arundathi.Anon,The old fashioned oats is available in some supermarkets in India and ideal for this recipe. This time I didn’t have that so I used quick cooking oats (Quakers) which is what I had!Nandita, You can make it without magaz. Just use whatever nuts you can find like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, even cashewnuts (not so healthy, this one).Yes, I do Bee. And have this big jar of it my cousing brought me that I need to finish!I went to the market yesterday, realised we have about 2 weeks till the monsoon and went a bit crazy buying mangoes!!! Now I have to find ways to use them up.
yeahhh i too saw that episode.. urs looks perfect… too good
YUM! That makes great breakfast!:)
this looks delcious!!!great for brkfast and healthy too:)
This looks really healthy and delicious 🙂
The lady can sure cook up some delectable stuff…love yourparfait..the colour is just right!!!
Hi Aparna, this looks so delicious and so healthy. Rosie x
Hi! looks yummilicious, great for the summer treat 🙂
Looks healthy and sounds so good!
Aparna, this looks healthy and yummy too! I think when I am going to make it (hopefully soon, because I just printed the recipe:)) I will top it with chopped mixed nuts instead of granola as I am not a big fan of it. Plain nuts will work better for me. Also I think I’ll use fresh mangos, as they are in full season now here:)In winter I’ll switch to frozen:) This is a great recipe!!! THANK YOU!!!
Frozen mango puree.. what a neat idea. Last week I had oh-so-good-mangoes. Its been years since I had such good ones.
Yes, healthy and I can guarantee it is delicious.Let me know if you liked it, Mansi. And I’ll send you an entry for MM.Do use fresh mangoes, Farida. There’s nothing quite like it. And you could try toasting the nuts for the topping. They taste great.