Mommy blogger

Sunday, May 08, 2005

A lil Sweet , a lil sour

Its customary in this part of the world to bring along a bag of fruits when you are visiting someone. The contents of the bag determine the relationship one shares with the household and also the months of the year.

'Rasthali' a banana variety is an all year around 'aabhatbhandhavan' (A Bay watch kind of life saver). Green seedless grapes and apples make a brief winter consultant like stop over. But the king of the fruits arrive during the 2 month period of May and June and boy do they arrive in style !!!

My nephew stood around the table eyeing the yellow Banganapalli's in delight. A gift from chitappa when he came down for his weekly visit. Amma removed them from the table.
" Still a little time before they ripen".And in they went to hibernate in the confines of the Rice drum.

Mangoes or Mangifera indica are classified into varieties based on their features , benefits and target segment catered to.

At the top of the pyramid rule the Alphonsoes from the konkan belt, then come the salem Malguavas, Banganapalli - catering to the great Indian Middle class, Kilimuku, Nilambari .. The list would warrant a Maeneka Gandhi writing on - 'A book of Mango names'.

Mango preparations range from juices and jams to spicy gravies and rasams. Every cook worth his salt will elucidate his prowess in dishing out Mango delicacies on Sunday channels and papers. But the true taste of a mango lies in its true form, with the skin.


It was a little before 2:00 pm in the afternoon , when after quality inspection the fruits were declared ripe enough to be savoured. Once cut into 3 portions , kids scrambled for the 'Kottai' or the portion with the seed. 'Kadhuppu' was left for the more civilised elders.

It was still early May, the variety was still a little sour , and a little sweet. My nephew ran around with the kottai dripping and an old tamil rhyme.

'Mambhayam ma Mabhayam, Sale(m) thu Mambhayam
Thitthikkum mambhayam.... '

5 comments:

Jupe said...

Awwww..I know its probably sacrilege to say that I hate mangoes but thats the truth..How I hate May and June !! My folks survive on ONLY mambazham - banganapalli, malgova and our own Trichy special, Imampasand...Enakku vara vendiya sothu ellam ippadiye azhinju pogudhu :-p

ps: Don't trust this Dumbs guy.. he makes it sound as if his sis is always horrid to him but i suspect its the converse ;-)

Unknown said...

"Perverted are those kids who run behind the Kottai..." -Old Jungle saying!!

MAVIS HOME -HOME RETAIL said...

Imam pasand I remember .. and I thought it was Congress way of getting a vote bank !!

Sibling fight and mangoes date back to Pulliyar and Muruga chami.. so I believe Dumbs.. I nearly made my anna bald over an alphonso.

The second doesnt eat mangoes , the first loses it to his sister, me eats the whole fruit .. SO WHO IS THE PERVERT???? any clues??? ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh God How i wish i was in India jus to enjoy the yummy mangoes. Anu u r blessed to enjoy each of em!!

Sri

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Mango preparations range from juices and jams to spicy gravies and rasams. Every cook worth his salt will elucidate his prowess in dishing out Mango delicacies on Sunday channels and papers. But the true taste of a mango lies in its true form, with the skin.
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