An Indian Taiwanese fusion recipe combining the nectarous mango, the health benefits of green tea and ginger and the cool, gluten free, boba!

This boba tea is a drink with an attitude! If you love bubble tea as much as I do, you will know what I mean. I cannot go past a bubble tea store without craving the sweet, ice cold beverage. But then the thought of artificial powders in the calorie laden drink makes me think twice. Hence my effort for a healthier option.
To me, mangoes are redolent of summer! Growing up in India summers meant a room full of the best Alphanso/Haapus mangoes, ripening in their crates! It is my most favorite fruit!
The health benefits of green tea and ginger are well known. I steeped the green tea with some fresh ginger. I tried to pick a sweet, ripe mango.The amount of sugar will depend on how sweet the mango is. I used stevia sweetener in mine. Boba is rich in iron and…..oh so yummy!
So a little about the boba and the boba/bubble tea, as I understand it. The boba or bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the eighties. It is now popular worldwide! Broadly speaking, there are two types- a milk tea, sweetened generally with condensed milk and a fruit tea sweetened with fruit juice. Boba, made from tapioca starch, are available in many colors. Cooking the traditional boba is quite a time consuming task, taking anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half to cook them.
I used the quick cooking boba which were ready in a few minutes. The package said ‘ready in 5 minutes!’ That and a couple of lines of instructions is the only English on the package, so my friend and I were skeptical. But they did cook very well in 6 minutes.
I absolutely loved the ease and the delectable flavor of this drink and want to thank my friend Shirley who got me the quick cooking boba to experiment with!
Mango ginger boba tea
Ingredients-
- 3 ½ cups of water
- ¼ cup quick cooking, black boba
- A bowl of ice water
- 2 tea bags of caffeine free, green tea
- ¼ inch fresh peeled ginger, crushed slightly
- 2 cups very hot water
- 2/3 cup mango pulp, pureed
- Sugar or stevia to taste (if needed)
- A tiny pinch of sea salt (optional)
- Crushed ice to serve
To make the Mango Ginger Boba Tea-
- Boil the 3 ½ cups of water. When it comes to a boil, add the boba and give a quick stir. When they come to the surface, turn the heat down to medium, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Turn heat to lowest heat and let them steep in for another 3 minutes. Drain the boba, and cool them for 20 seconds or so in the ice water. Drain and set them aside.
- While the water is boiling in step 1, steep the green tea bags and the ginger in the 2 cups of very hot water. Set aside to cool. Strain to remove the ginger pieces.
- In a pitcher, combine the mango puree, the cooled tea, sugar or stevia and a tiny pinch of the salt (optional). Stir to combine flavors.
- In each tall serving glass, add ½ of the boba and pour ½ of the mango drink. Top with crushed ice and serve.
Cheers!
Love,
Sandhya
What an interesting and beautiful beverage Sandhya. When I saw the word “Boba” I had to go online to see what it is. I love mangoes too – in beverages or just on its own or in a salsa.
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Judi, my daughter first introduced me to bubble tea/boba tea and I was hooked! It is very popular with the younger generation. Taro, Peach and Lychee are favorite flavors. I love mangoes so had to try making mango and green tea ginger combination:)
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Sounds really refreshing Sandhya! But tell me…where do you buy the Boba? (I’ve never heard of it before!) 🙂 🙂
Linda~
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Thanks Linda! Boba are large sized tapioca and you can get them in Asian stores. Look for the quick cooking kind.
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Oh okay! I think I have seen them! 💗💗
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Mangoes are my favorite fruit too. This sounds delicious. It appears I may need to chew my beverage? 😉
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Ha Ha Greg… yes the boba are chewy and apparently some people like them chewier so they cook them longer:)
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Sounds delightful Sandhya! Have never heard of Boba before, but love the contrast in color combined with the mango 🙂
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Thank you so much Marisa! Boba originated in Taiwan and they are large sized tapioca pearls.
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Great recepie… Where will I found boba in new nersey?
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Thanks Anju. Boba can be found in Asian grocery stores. Look for the quick cooking ones.
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What a cool and delicious drink. It sounds delicious and refreshing and I love how those boba look in the bottom of the glass. Your photo is amazing,
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Thank you so much Suzanne! My friend got me black boba and they contrasted so well with the mango drink.
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What an eye-catching photo Sandhya! When I first saw it, I thought perhaps that was passion fruit in a mango drink. Would you believe me if I told you I have never tasted bubble tea? One of my daughters loved it when she was in High School, but I never did try it. As usual, you’ve made it healthy, nutritious and wholesome….so I might just have to look for boba. This mango and ginger drink will definitely titillate my tastebuds 🙂
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Thanks for your sweet comments Loretta! It was my daughter who got me hooked on the bubble tea too.I always felt a little guilty drinking it as i knew it was so high in calories and with artificial powders. this is my guiltfree version So now I drink as much as I want 🙂
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Anything with mango in it and I am there!
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Great Photography… It looks very delicious
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Thank you so much Ruchi!
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Wow … this looks so tasty!
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Thank you so much!
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Love the mango/ginger combo here Sandhya. I bet it was just delicious!
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Thank you Zeba. Yes, I liked the mango ginger flavor with the boba.
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I’m going to try this! looks great!
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Thanks Swapna. Hope you like it as much as I do
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I like the way you lay out so many details before providing the recipe. It adds to the interest of the beverage. Well done!
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Thank you so much!
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That does look like good boba! 👍
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Thank you so much!
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No worries! 👍
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Love it 😛
Sabrina || http://www.OrganicIsBeautiful.com
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Thanks Sabrina!
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Hello Sandhya, I want to nominate you for Blogger Recognition Award:)) hopefully you will accept it. Its a form of online award given by one blogger to another. Here is the link. https://keralas.live/2016/06/27/blogger-recognition-award/ You may use image of your choice. Thank you. I visited your site several times; to nominate you, but I wasn’t sure if you will accept it. Thanking you. Sumith.
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Thank you so much Sumith for nominating me. I am truly honored that a talented blogger like you has nominated me.
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Reblogged this on Hello Creatives and commented:
Thanks for sharing this.
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Thanks so much for reblogging this!
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Thank you so much for including me in the collective!
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