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Fruit-bearing Trees
The mango puranam
 Talk
of fruits, mango surfaces in your mind: Its myriad varieties, each with its
own taste, geographical home, aroma, colour, size and what it offers for your
consumption. Undoubtedly, it is the king of fruits. Like any other king, it is
not in public view all the time. It appears in the market at a time when the
Chennaivasis are huffing and puffing in the sweltering heat of the season.
But when one sits down with a
plate full of mango slices or a glass of the fruit’s juice, he praises the
gods who presented him this seasonal gift. Indeed, in the season that just
finished a couple of months ago, when the market was flooded with mangoes in
terms of variety as well as quantity, I went into raptures and told my
atheistically-inclined grandson that this great taste could not have been
created if there were no God and so, he better start believing in the
existence of God!
And he readily agreed!! But
when the season was over, he forgot all about God and went back to his old
ways!! Such is the spell of mango!!!
But would you believe it?
There are a few, one here and one there, who dislike mango. These rare birds
have a penchant for pickles made from raw mangoes but a ripe mango, however
delicious, is anathema to them. This world is a world of startlingly strange
contradictions!
 Personally,
I swear by the ‘Banaganapalle’ variety, though I know a Mumbaiwallah would
not let you go free if you don’t agree with him on the point that ‘Alphonso’
stands by itself alone! In the season that just closed, Alphonso was available
in the Chennai market. When it comes to mango, cost is of no consideration to
me. And so, I went in for a carton of Alphonsos. Believe me, I felt let down.
And there is the ‘Rasalu’
variety from Andhra which are never abundantly available in Chennai. There is
a nephew of mine who would visit every fruit market in Chennai to get a few
dozens of this variety of mango. He considers the mango season had not been
kind to him unless he had secured a few baskets of this variety.
 Eating
‘Rasalu’ is an art in itself. Make a small opening at the stalk end of the
fruit and slowly suck the juice out until you grow sure there is no more of it
inside the fruit. Having done this, close the incision as well as you can and
create a make-believe situation when someone who is fond of the fruit
stealthily snatches it and finally feels fooled when he finds that the fruit
has been done in by someone earlier.
The Chennai mango season ends
with the appearance of Neelam, Rumani and Bangalora (Kilimooku). Neelam,
though extremely delicious to taste, repels many for the inside of the shell
of most of the fruits of this variety serves as the home of a beetle - the
mango beetle. The very thought causes creeps.
 But
I for one am not willing to let it go at that. I’ll take a knife, peal off
the skin, slice the pulp up to the point of the shell’s outer wall, shave
the shell clean and eat all the pulp, without leaving a small part of it. No,
I'm not deterred by Nature’s arrangements.
And then, the Rumani. A very
thin (almost membranous) coat, thick and chunks of pulpy flesh and a very
small endocarpic chamber, covered by a hard and woody shell inside which the
seed is housed mark this variety. Just take the round fruit into your hand,
massage it gently all over - if you are in a hurry, you would tear the skin -
make a small opening and press out the fruit's meaty contents on to a plate
and have a go! You are in seventh heaven if you had the right eye for
selecting the fruit, which is ripe enough, making itself amenable to the
treatment suggested. You’ll not regret it.
 On
the other hand, if you made a wrong selection, the resin and the acid taste
will spoil your day. The kilimuku (Bangalora) is last to appear in Chennai
markets. It is a favourite of the beach vendors, who sell ‘thenga, manga and
sundal’.
During the season, they make
segments of the pulp of the fruit, finally cutting each segment into a small
section, the whole making a nice-looking piece altogether and offer these with
chilli powder and salt to fight the acid taste. As a youngster how I loved it!
But now my taste buds wouldn’t let me enjoy it. When you are on the beach,
you’ll notice how much the kids and youngsters enjoy it.
And
then, you’ve the Malgova, Khaderpasand, Peethar, Suvarnarekha, Imampasand
appearing for short spells in the middle of the season. Each one of these with
a distinct taste and flavour has its own set of admiring customers. In the
last season, the Langra, and Dusserli varieties of mango which I tasted while
I was a student at Banaras appeared in the Chennai market.
Nostalgia led me to taste
them again, nearly 55 years later. Well, they seem to score a second class
only, against the varieties available south of the Vindhyas.
| Profile
of the author
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Prof K N
Rao
Contact Address:
78F, (AE 122), M.I.G. Flats,
4th Avenue, Anna Nagar,
Chennai - 600 040.
Ph No: 2621 5889
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