Mango...The King of Fruits
One of my best mango memories goes back to my childhood !! The good old years when holidays were simple affairs. Every year during the summer vacations,we would take off to one of the Himalayan Hill Stations - Simla , Nainitaal, Mussoorie, Manali , all of which were a short drive from Delhi- my hometown
Dad's good old reliable fiat..and we would take off!! .. Haridwar( the pilgrimage city) was always the night halt as we all loved the break midway ( albeit a little out of the way ;-) ! ) We would wander the streets of haridwar - soaking in the sights, attending the evening arati at "Har ki Paudi" , floating the diya with flowers into the river ganga , seeking blessings, wandering the ghats.
Evenings always saw us having the kadha hua doodh (milk simmered in big containers) in the streets.
That brings us back to the mango!!.We would always buy mangoes (small sweet mangoes to suck on - that don't need to be cut ! ) in the streets and also a gamcha ( small muslin cloth ) before we returned to our guest house. All our guest houses always had a private ghaat. We would tie the mangoes in that gamcha..sit on the ghaats with the mangoes floating in water and getting cooled naturally in the ganga. Those were one of the most serene and calming moments followed by devouring those yummy cooled mangoes.
Delhi summers are synonymous with mango - dussehri, langda, safeda - highest on my recall list.
Summers also reminded me of ganderi ( cut sugarcane) , faalse and jamun ( berries)..
Mumbai introduced me to the King of Mangoes - Alphonso or the Hapus and summers became even sweeter. Thankfully the North Indian mangoes come later in the season and the two varieties don't vie for my attention.
Today, we all wait for the first mangoes .. to create magic....
So.........WHAT'S YOUR BEST MANGO MEMORY???? Do share with us !!
One of my best mango memories goes back to my childhood !! The good old years when holidays were simple affairs. Every year during the summer vacations,we would take off to one of the Himalayan Hill Stations - Simla , Nainitaal, Mussoorie, Manali , all of which were a short drive from Delhi- my hometown
Dad's good old reliable fiat..and we would take off!! .. Haridwar( the pilgrimage city) was always the night halt as we all loved the break midway ( albeit a little out of the way ;-) ! ) We would wander the streets of haridwar - soaking in the sights, attending the evening arati at "Har ki Paudi" , floating the diya with flowers into the river ganga , seeking blessings, wandering the ghats.
Evenings always saw us having the kadha hua doodh (milk simmered in big containers) in the streets.
That brings us back to the mango!!.We would always buy mangoes (small sweet mangoes to suck on - that don't need to be cut ! ) in the streets and also a gamcha ( small muslin cloth ) before we returned to our guest house. All our guest houses always had a private ghaat. We would tie the mangoes in that gamcha..sit on the ghaats with the mangoes floating in water and getting cooled naturally in the ganga. Those were one of the most serene and calming moments followed by devouring those yummy cooled mangoes.
Delhi summers are synonymous with mango - dussehri, langda, safeda - highest on my recall list.
Summers also reminded me of ganderi ( cut sugarcane) , faalse and jamun ( berries)..
Mumbai introduced me to the King of Mangoes - Alphonso or the Hapus and summers became even sweeter. Thankfully the North Indian mangoes come later in the season and the two varieties don't vie for my attention.
Today, we all wait for the first mangoes .. to create magic....
So.........WHAT'S YOUR BEST MANGO MEMORY???? Do share with us !!
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