Relish its sweetness

Succulent fruit

What’s a summer without some ripe mangoes? The luscious yellow sweet fruit is loved by every single person on the planet. Too bad it’s there only for a limited time every year.

Even in namma City, one can see heaps of mangoes everywhere. One can spot the warm hue of the king of fruits from quite a distance on the pavements, in vegetable markets and grocery stores. Metrolife finds out how has the mango-mania gripped the City.

Some of the most popular types of mangoes are the raspuri, banganpali, malgoa and alphonso. The good old Malleswaram Market in the City is loaded with a variety of mangoes.

“The banganpali is Rs 70 per kilo while the raspuri and malgoa are Rs 60 and Rs 150 respectively,” explains a shopkeeper at the market as soon as you enter it. At another store in the market, raspuri costs Rs 80.

While the cartwalas moving from one street to another sell the fruit for Rs 50 a kilo, some of the more commercialised markets have boards screaming out — ‘Three kilos for Rs 100’! Yes, as you keep looking, you keep getting better deals. But the two things that are constant are the sweet nectar-like taste of the mango and the love that namma Bangaloreans share for it.

“Who doesn’t like mangoes,” asks Sharada, a volunteer at a special school. “It’s such a tasty fruit and every member of my family loves it,” says the mother of two. “There is a banganpali tree in my mother-in-law’s house which yields around 250 to 300 mangoes every year.

However, since the tree is very old, the ripeness of the fruit has reduced to an extent now,” she adds. “So I also buy raspuri’ and badami from the markets,” she notes.
Mango has always been the favourite fruit of Rithika Sundaram, an HR Consultant at Aon Hewitt.

“There is nothing like a thick mango milkshake on a hot summer day,” she exclaims. “In fact I had been to this restaurant recently which was serving a mango special menu. So there was a mango-based soup and five to six fresh mango-based desserts. Since it’s a seasonal fruit, every place is making the best use of it,” she adds.
However, one must keep a couple of things in mind when it comes to mangoes. Dr Anju Sood, a diet and weight management consultant who runs a clinic, warns that one must not indulge in too much of mangoes.

“Since it generates a lot of heat in the body, excess consumption can cause eruptions and heat boils on the skin,” she says. “Those trying to bring down their weight or suffering from ailments like blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension and heart problems should stay away from the fruit too,” she advises.

When consumed in limited quantity, the fruit can be a boon as it’s packed with nutrients! “Mangoes are an extremely good source of energy since they are high on sugar. They are packed with vitamin A and a number of minerals,” she notes.

“The best way to have it is in its natural form. For growing kids, mango milkshake is advised,” she says. “Raw mangoes are great coolers and on a hot day, panna which is raw mango juice is the best thing to have. However, avoid mango pickle as it contains a lot of salt,” she notes.  

So all you mango-maniacs out there, it’s time to just munch on!