The King of Fruits is here!

It’s the season of mangoes. The King of Fruits visits us just for 2 months, but oh, these 2 months!
If the mango is the king of fruits, then the king of all mangoes is the Alphonso. (Hapus in Marathi). This is entirely my personal opinion and though there might be other variants like Langda and Dashehri and Ratna, for me its only Hapus.
Mangoes can be relished in myriad ways-
-The fruit, as-is (cubed, segmented or whole (yes!!))
-In the form of Aamras – the pulp+juice of a mango (actually, several mangoes) – a fragrant puree to dip your chapati (or if you’re lucky, your puri) into
-Cubed, with vanilla icecream on the side
-In mango sheera (mango-flavoured semolina halwa, rich with raisins and almonds)
-Cold mango milkshake – a great start to a summer day
-In Aamrakhand – mango-flavoured shrikhand (hung curd mixed through with mango puree and sugar)
-And finally, the SUBLIME mango cream.

I am not a true mango fan(atic) like a lot of my friends and family. I do not long for April to come. I don’t despair when I hear news of the mango blooms being swept away by winter storms. (A routine bit of news every December, to hike up the anticipation) My ears don’t prick up at the sound of the mango seller’s call – “Payari - Hapuuuuuuuuus!!”

But yes, I do enjoy a good mango, with its glowing orangey-yellow colour, luscious sweetness and heavenly fragrance. I simply tolerate aamras (much to the shocked horror of my Aamras-loving extended family) but love having the fruit as-is – whole. Wearing old clothes (or a bib!) is a must when gorging on mangoes in this fashion – the juices WILL trickle down your chin and leave permanent tell-tale yellow stains. It is also recommended that you are alone (or with your nearest and dearest ones who have seen you at your worst) when you eat mangoes so – it is quite a sight to see a mango being WOLFED DOWN whole.

But when you do sit down to it, eating a mango whole is delightful. First, the smooth skin needs to be peeled (or is it pulled away?) by the teeth. Then a moment to sit back and ogle the treasure you’ve uncovered - the glorious orange hue, the mind-swooning scent. Then after a moment of reverie, you start feasting on the glistening nuggets of sweet, succulent flesh – and don’t stop until you reach the seed at the centre. Even then, you don’t stop – you just change strategies and nibble on the seed for every last scrap of deliciousness. Deep, deep pleasure! (a la Nigella!)

I DO enjoy the more civilized forms of the mango (all except the aamras!) but of them all, mango cream has a special place in my food-loving heart (or is it tummy?)



This ethereal dessert is the marriage of bite-sized cubes of scented mango, heavy cream and just the teensiest bit of sugar. Just mix the lot and chill. And then enjoy every single delectable mouthful!