Mangoes ...

“MANGOES”, those golden words & everyone, from toddler to teenagers to old people go weak in their knees….

          Yes, today’s blog is about king of fruits, fruit of summer Mango…

We wait for an entire year, for summer only for arrival of this fruit…And once it arrives all hell breaks loose…the sight of it in those neatly arranged rows, tempt you, the aroma, drives you crazy & when you bite into its sweet golden juicy flesh…ohhh… you go mad…

 

Housewives think of all the recipes that can be made, aamras, ice creams, milk shakes, smoothies, aam papad, jams, juice, sweets you name it… their brains work overtime so that she & her family can savour the fruit till the season ends.

Kids go crazy by just seeing their parents bring the fruit home.

I don’t remember when exactly I feel in love with this fruit, maybe when I was a kid…

My Aayi, made an unspoken rule, that on each one’s birthday, their favorite will be cooked… so on my birthday (I am born in month of May) its “Aamras poori”…hmmm I can imagine many drooling…J

Maybe that’s when I feel in love with this magical fruit… no wonder mango is called king of fruits… its colour yellowish with orange tinge, the sweet aroma, the sweet tingling taste…

With so many varieties available, the king of them Alphonso rules the no 1 position. You can’t match the taste of this naturally ripened fruit with anything in world…

But due to its high sugar content people with diabetics can’t eat it… Also excess eating of mangoes results in outbreak of acne…L. One way of reducing its heat is that before eating a mango its better if you soak it in cold water for ½ hour & then relish the fruit. Soaking reduces its heat…Also some say drinking in form of milkshakes reduces its heat.

I remember when we were kids, every summer we used to go to our native place Udupi, at my cousin’s place, who had many mango & cashew trees. The sweet aroma of the blooming mango & cashew flowers, small tender mangoes hanging on the overloaded branches, threatening to fall off, if wind blows… Competing with cousins, who climbs the tree first to get to those ripe cashew or mango, who collects maximum number of mangoes, who’s stone hits the target… Those were our childhood memories which sadly kids of this generation miss.

Mango can be used either raw or ripe. Raw mango or kairi when cut into wedges, sprinkled with salt & red chilli powder…hmmm…mouth starts watering just by thinking about it… it is also used in making of chats, chutneys, salads, curries & subjis… 

 

Mango leaves are considered to be auspicious. Any functions or any pooja ritual is incomplete without its leaves…

Really, mango, be it fruit or leaves has such vast use…

So am off to relish my aamras made by my Aayi & enjoy the ice cream I made…

Enjoy the King of fruits till it returns next year J