Aam papad
Ripe mango pulp spread thin and dried as a chewy fruit leather. This entry records one controlled unsweetened experiment and distinguishes it from Bengali sun-dried aamshotto and sweetened or spiced variants.
Modern method
Mango leather
mango fruit roll · fruit roll · mango fruit leather
Sieved mango purée with honey and warm spices, spread a quarter inch thick and dried at 140 °F (60 °C) for about 10 hours into a flexible fruit sheet.
What mango leather is
Mango leather is a sheet of dried fruit purée. Its colour is deep amber, and when it is ready it peels from its liner in one flexible piece, and it rolls without cracking. Fruit leathers are among the simplest dried fruit foods: the fruit is reduced to a smooth purée, spread thinly, and dried until the water has gone and the sugars hold the sheet together.
The mango version adds honey and warm spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are the spices the record gives. Honey is optional, and the leather can be made unsweetened. The record also includes ascorbic acid, which the source gives to slow darkening of the colour and not to preserve the leather.
Sources for this section
Drying the purée
The purée is spread a quarter inch thick on liners and dried at a steady 140 °F (60 °C). The source gives about ten hours, and it says the time depends heavily on the humidity of the room. A thin layer dries faster at the edges than at the centre, so the leather is judged finished only when the middle is no longer sticky and does not take an indentation when pressed.
An oven can be used in place of a dehydrator. The oven is held at 140 to 145 °F (60 to 63 °C) with the door propped open two to six inches. The dehydrator's air temperature should be checked with a thermometer from time to time. Silicone mats used in place of the liners are a reasonable substitution, but the source does not test them, so that change is an untested adaptation.
Sources for this section
Storage and the general fruit-leather method
Leather is peeled off while warm, cut into quarters and rolled in plastic wrap that extends beyond its edges. The source gives storage of about one month in freezer bags or airtight containers in a cool, dark, dry place, and up to one year tightly wrapped in the freezer.
The same instruction set gives a general method for other fruit: two cups of fruit make a 13 by 15 inch leather an eighth of an inch thick, dried for six to eight hours in a dehydrator. Fruit leather as a family is recorded separately, and this page covers only the mango formula the source prints.
Sources for this section
History
The source is a current home-food-preservation instruction. It gives no date or origin for mango leather or for fruit leather in general.
Ingredients
Yield 8 fruit rolls (about two dryer trays of 14 inches diameter) · Scaling: source batch only
Mango puréeFrom about four large, unripe mangoes, washed, peeled, chopped, puréed and passed through a food mill or sieve.
946 mL4 cup as recorded
Clover honey (optional)
237 mL1 cup as recorded
May be omitted for unsweetened leather.Ground cinnamon
2.5 mL½ tsp as recorded
Ground nutmeg
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
Ground cloves
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
Ascorbic acid (optional)
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
About 750 mg, for a lighter colour. The source gives it for colour, not for preservation.Vegetable oil cooking sprayA light coat on the liners.
Amount not stated
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Under-drying
Leather dries from the edge inward, and a sticky centre is not finished.
Hazard sourceDryness test
Control sourceUse fruit-roll liners, not waxed paper or aluminium foil
Control sourceAcid in light fruit is for colour, not for preservation. The source gives ascorbic acid to prevent darkening.
- Preheat the dehydrator to 140 °F (60 °C).
- Wash, peel and roughly chop the mangoes. Purée until smooth, pass through a food mill or sieve to remove the coarse fibre, then mix in the honey and spices, and the ascorbic acid if used.
- Lightly spray two fruit-roll liners and spread the mixture evenly, about a quarter inch thick.
- Dry at a steady 140 °F air temperature, checked with a thermometer, for about 10 hours. The time depends heavily on room humidity. The leather is finished when there are no sticky areas and pressing the centre leaves no indentation.
- Peel the leather off while it is warm, re-warming it briefly if it sticks, cut it into quarters, and roll each piece in plastic wrap that extends one to two inches past the leather. Twist the ends closed once it has cooled.
Conditions
Yield8 fruit rolls (about two dryer trays of 14 inches diameter)
Fermentation10 h
Temperature60°C
Temperature controlMulti-stage
Places
Unknown
Relationship not established · Place not establishedThe method is a home-food-preservation instruction from a US extension source, with no place of origin for mango leather.
Related
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Sources
National Center for Home Food PreservationMethod · Storage
Mango LeatherFour cups of mango purée with honey and spices
Dehydrator at 140 °F for about 10 hours
Quarter-inch thickness
Dryness test
Oven at 140 to 145 °F with the door open two to six inches
Storage for about one month, or one year frozen
Cited in: What mango leather is; Drying the purée; Storage and the general fruit-leather method
National Center for Home Food PreservationMethod · Safety
Fruit LeathersTwo cups of fruit per 13 by 15 inch leather, one eighth inch thick, six to eight hours
Liners; no waxed paper or aluminium foil
Acid to prevent darkening
Cited in: Drying the purée; Storage and the general fruit-leather method