Mangoes are are such a craze in India specially in western India. Mangoes come in varieities....the world famous Alphonso (anglized name of Haapuus Amba) , Payari(Another fantastic variety), Totapuri (has a parrot-beak like appearance), Langda, Neelam, Mangoa, Banganapalli and the list goes on......When spring is just about setting in, you can see the flowering mango trees......Late in spring, raw mangoes are out in market. These are yummy delights....you cut these, sprinkle a bit of salt and eat. They are fantastic appetisers and even go well ina salad. Mangoes are virtually consumed in every form in India. Raw Mango juice, Ripe Manago juice, Raw Mango pickle(many many varieities), Raw Mango Jam, Ripe Mango jam, Mango pulp with milk and sugar, Amrakhand(mango in cottage cheese), Mango sambar, Mango barfi....and the list goes on. Months of April, May are just Mango festival season in Maharashtra. Every restaurant will serve something to do with Mango. If you visit anyone's home, be sure to get a mango treat. Dur to advent of Mango drinks like "Frooti", "Maaza", the mango taste is preserved the year long. My grandmother used to go to the "Mala"(Marathi name for a garden or plot where vegetables are grown) and hand pick small ripe but sour mangoes to make her Mambayam(Malayam/Tamil name for Mango) sambar ot morkutan. I miss it Patti.
Now I spoke so much about Mango but I never liked mango (except in its raw form). Summer for me meant lot of watermelon.....I used to wait for Mom to buy those juicy large "Sugar baby" water melons. Mom used to already cut it into pieces before putting in the fridge lest on of us ate it all up. Our share was already predetermined so we had to guard our pieces. I remember having taken a knife and cutting thin slices out of others share(Sorry Mom, Dad, sis, bro) so that they wouldnt notice that their piece has gotten smaller. I suspect the same tactic was deployed by my bro and sis too :-)...anyway my appetite for watermelon never diminished. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I believe I would have eaten a watermelon a day(or at least half).......Yesterday I just purchased one large watermelon. I cut it into two. My daughter came by my side and asked for a piece. From that point we have been just competing on who is going to eat more- we just have a quarter left which I believe we will finish by the end of the day (he he he!!!) I am delighted to have yet another watermelonoholic in my house - Chip off the old block as they say :-)
