Mangoes

Dear Friends!

It is the mangoes' season and the market is flooded with many varieties, sizes, colors and shapes of mangoes from all over India.

Uttar Pradesh boasts of some the world's best varieties where farmers nurture this seasonal fruit with so much passion. In Maharashtra it is the Alphonsa which is very popular.

In Hyderabad, we would as kids enjoy the Banganpalli the most. Rasaaloos are one of a kind. Ras mean juice and yes these tiny mangoes with tinier stones would be juicy and oh so sweet.
Our mother would make aamras (squeezed mango pulp to which sugar and cardamom powder are added to create a heavenly sweet with which to have puris - deep fried indian breads.)
She would also make one of the best sambars - a lentil based dish with rasaaloos as the main ingredient. If there are 6 members in a family then 6 rasaaloos would be slit and cooked in it. We would then fish out one each. This sambar would have all the tastes blended in it - sourness from the tamarind pulp, mangoes and jaggery for sweetness, salt and chilly or sambar powder to make it spicy. With curd rice this would be the best combination ever.

Here in Chennai we have different varieties like salem mangoes, 'kili mooku' mangoes which have a typical nose-like formation at the end. This one would be sharp and sweet to taste. Eaten raw with or without salt and chilly powder. It is the most popular variety available at the Marina and Elliots beaches. These would be slit and cut to resemble an arched saw blade and displayed to tempt passers-by to buy them!

Fruits available in seasons are most waited for. They are sold on the roadside in plenty. Loads of it arrive from across borders and within states in lorries.

Well we had the first mangoes of the season today. They were very sweet. Hope you too enjoy the seasons' fruits in whichever part of the globe you are in.

Cheers!
Mahalakshmi