The Golden king of Fruits

Just as the crazy winters of America was setting behind me and I was looking forward to some nice summer weather it made me realize how much I am missing India’s summer.

Personally speaking I don’t think any delhitte(Delhi citizens) would say he/she likes the sultry
sweaty summers. But I had reasons to say otherwise. It made me remember my school days when I used to come back home from school at temperatures of around 48 C to get a chilled bowl of cut Mangoes, Watermelons and Litchis at home. Oh yeah I am quiet a fruit person. Or when one of my teachers Mr. Tiwari used to stop the school bus to get some kheeras and kakadis (I think they call it Cucumber) which he, me, his daughter and one more of my friend(she won't remember this,she didn't even remember the bus no. we travelled for in 10 years :P) used to share to the envy of the whole bus. This is something I used to associate with heavens during those days. To get a cold chilled Mangoes and Watermelons at that temperature is actually no less than heavens. The people of Delhi or any other hot part of India will associate more with me here.

Now the arrival of summers made me realize how much I will miss those mangoes here (without which life is practically not worth living). The stacks of mangoes would have already started decking up along streets of India. Atleast in Delhi, It was hard to know who was selling the real mangoes and who the artificially riped ones-(these taste like some chemicals seriously, but still way better than the Latin American ones we get here). The real ones are succulent, juicy and melt in your mouth leaving an inimitable taste which cannot be forgotten for life. I still feel Bengali market/Khan market fruit seller used to have some of the best mangoes in town(What say Delhites ??) . The people in America might not much associate my charm for mangoes .Well that’s because you haven’t really tasted the real mangoes….the Latin American stuff aint anything in front of this (No offence please)…The Alfonso’s(Hapoos for Maharashtrians…yeah I know you Bombaities know what I am talking abt here).These are the real Indian delectable luscious mangoes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_(mango)

The best way to enjoy the flavour of these is to make ”Aamras” which can be made by extracting pulp from mango or by mixing it with ice cold milk with some sugar .. forming the mango smoothie or Mango Lassi as they call it in American Indian restaurants….Yummmmmyyyyyyyy.............or yeah have it old traditional way without cut just plain sucking…

Well if you think I am obsessed with mangoes then sample this. I can safely say to have tried almost all the best varieties available from almost all parts of India. You name it and I have had it…Alphonso, Chausa, Langda, Roomani, Dasheri, Neelam, safeda, Imam pasand , Himsagar.Mallika...and list is on and on…and so you can understand my agony of the first summers in my lifetime without mangoes.

Just when I was done by my sulking on this dead summer afternoon and had got back to my Lab for some Research my Google Newsmeter gave me the BIG news. The USDA cleared the import of first set of Alfonso mangoes and the first shipment will be arriving at White house(obviously !!) in a week. Yeah, this is America baby. For 18 years they had stopped the most heavenly thing from arriving in US because it can harbour a mango seed weevil pest which is now removed via irrardiation.

What was India's trade off to the United States?

India said it would clear the way for Harley Davidsons to enter its competitive market for motorbikes. Now that’s something to write about. How can India stop the sale of such a beauty uptil now. But then again….Ahh forget it..Let’s hope we will see some Harleys running on Indian roads soon.

But yeah back to the news. It was a moment which made me jump in joy. I immediately had my people in India to get on the job to send me the first pack of mangoes which should hopefully arrive by End of May. I would still miss my Mom’s hand made Aam ka Achaar (Mango Pickle) though….

It’s going to be a painful anticipatory wait for what was a pleasant surprise for me. The only drawback will be the prohibitively exorbitant prices but then it’s going to be worth every penny. So here’s three cheers to a cheerful post and arguably the best mangoes in the world, Alfonsoes.