The Mango Season

There are over 1000 varieties of mangoes cultivated in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The one I remember most from my childhood is “Benishan”, which means spotless. Benishan mangoes have smooth unblemished skin, yellow in color, and the fruit is very sweet and juicy. Since it doesn’t have fibers it is easy to cut and slice. I think the best way to eat Benishan is to cut the two sides of the mango leaving the middle part containing the flat seed, then scooping out the mango flesh with a spoon.

The mango is often called the king of fruits. Even before the mango season arrived there were discussions in my house on the kind of crop we would have that year. Had the rains affected the crop? Where would we get the best mangoes in the city? All around Hyderabad, mangoes become the topic of conversation before they arrived in the market, during the season, and even after they were gone! No wonder the mango season which lasts from March to July is referred to as “mango madness.”

Mango varieties are often named after the place where they are cultivated or by their characteristics. Some of the popular varieties are Alphonso, Benishan, Chaunsa, Chinna Rasalu, Daseri, Langra, Totapari. The arrival of Neelam around June heralds the beginning of the end of the mango season.

A favorite among children was the Chinna Rasalu mango. It is a small juicy mango with thin skin. Since it is fibrous and cannot be cut Chinna Rasalu has to be softened by hand, till it turns into a small pouch of mango juice. The top is removed easily by hand so you get to drink the juice directly from the mango. This was the one fruit where children were not admonished if they made a mess while eating. Often as kids, weather permitting, we were asked to sit in the yard to eat the Chinna Rasalu. Wearing large t-shirts or kurtas over our clothes, we sat on chairs around a big bucket filled with mangoes and ice and ate as many mangoes as we could. I remember our giggles and laughter if we “accidentally” squirted the juice on the person sitting next to us.

Mangoes are sold all over Hyderabad in grocery stores, in pushcarts, on roadsides, and in “mandis” (wholesale markets). Sometimes my parents would go with their friends out of the city to buy mangoes. We children went along too and it became a big family outing for us. I forget where we went but it could have been to Viqarabad.

If we wanted to buy mangoes in bulk we went to the “mandi.” The mandis would be crowded with buyers and sellers, and of course cars, rickshaws, bicycles parked all over the place. The air was filled with the sweet smell of mangoes. I know this will surprise my children and grandchildren, but we bought mangoes without getting out of the car! The smart mango sellers knew people would prefer not to venture into the crowded market, so they brought mangoes to the buyers for tasting. You select the mangoes and make the payment on the spot.

In our house, we had a small storeroom upstairs which my mother used during the mango season. She would arrange mangoes on a bed of straw according to their level of ripeness. The mangoes that were almost ready to eat were covered lightly with straw, others needed a heavier layer. Every morning I would see my mother go upstairs to select the mangoes that were ready to eat that day. Mangoes were her favorite fruit.

The very green mangoes which would not ripen were used for making mango chutney or a mango drink. The unripe green mangoes were cut into strips and dried to make “amchur” and then used to flavor foods. Nothing was thrown or wasted.