The Magnificent Mango!

Dear Readers,

It’s Mango season! If there is one thing redeeming about the sweltering summers, it’s the magnificent mango! We’ve got all types flooding the market now – the deluge is only comparable to the drool we develop, just thinking of this King of Fruits, in all its various avatars… there’s Kesari, Baatli, Totapuri, Dasheri, Langada, Malgoba, Chausa, Pairi, etc… but when it comes to us Bawajis, it is Emperor Alphonso, or ‘Aapri Hapoos’, that marks the prime preference of most… and the only preference of many!

Indeed, it’s time to revel in the sinfully delectable mango magic, playing havoc with our taste-buds, with those irresistible desserts and dishes highlighted in the menus of all restaurants, patisseries and home-kitchens worth their salt in summer. Right from the luscious Aamras to the refreshing mango ice-cream or simply vanilla ice-cream with sliced mango… from the stylish mango panna cotta and mango cheesecake to our desi mango peda and mango barfi, or the oriental Thai mango sticky rice… we are spoilt for choice!

However, despite all these amazing mango goodies, a true-blue bawaji would still feel like something’s missing. Just like how we thoroughly enjoy various cuisines – Mughlai, Chinese, Thai, Continental, Italian, Japanese, etc., but nothing compares to the joy or satisfaction of a sumptuous Dhansak or Curry-chawal or Prawn Patia or Ras-gosh. And so it is, even with the mango. It’s just not quite the same without having tasted at least a couple of our very own unique and unmatched mango specials, like the Bafenu and Ambakalyo and Mango Murabbo, or ‘Kanda, Kairi Ma Ghos’, and not to forget the yummy concoctions when the dynamic mango joins hands with our unparalleled Parsi mainstay – the Eedu (the egg) – with dishes like ‘Kacchi Keri no Poro’, ‘Keri-par-eeda’ and ‘Mango Akoori’!

During an earlier era, these dishes were made painstakingly at home, without modern day technologies, by our mammaijis and bapaijis, who put in as much love, as effort, to render some of the most amazing gastronomic delights, bursting with flavour – but more than that, those incomparable, summer-mango-memories. While there’s no replicating the magical taste of those dishes made from their labour of love, the good news is, there are still some enterprising Parsi home-cooks, who have fortunately inherited those recipes from their grandmas. And they whip up quite the amazing Mango-Bawa-Bonanza, keeping alive our unique Parsi mango dishes, and a priceless tradition.

Here’s to feasting on the yummy mango this summer, in all its Parsi glory!

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita