The sun is yellow. The summer is yellow. The mango is yellow. And we get yellow to swallow this mellow fellow! (ok, enough with the poetry!) 😅
Did you know according to Forbes, India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world? But, that’s not all. Interestingly, only 1% of the produce gets exported. The rest 99% are happily devoured by the mango frenzy nation!!! Yes, we are mad about mangoes!
We live in a country where, forget mortals, even gods are crazy about this yellow sunshine of happiness and cannot resist it. Hindu scriptures are filled with folklores surrounding mangoes. The most popular one being of Lord Hanuman — he flies towards the sun and devours it thinking it was a mango!!! Do we need to say anything more?
The fact is established that we, Indians, simply luurrrrvvvveeee our mangoes. But, here are 7 reasons proving that mangoes are in our hearts and souls! Read on…
1. We may be a couch potato for the entire year, refusing to leave the comfort of our homes; but, come mango season and we are more than happy to visit any and every relative, invited or uninvited, because… aamras!!!
2. Summer season meant pickle season! Our grannies sat down with raw mangoes and hundreds of spices to prepare aam ka achar. Every family had their own ‘secret mango pickle recipe’. And, we as kids, sat beside them as “helpers”— just to eat the bits and pieces of the raw fruit. Yummmyyy!
Image Credit: Vaya
3. We can have mangoes anytime and with anything — breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks, dinner, midnight cravings, or just when we feel like. Hey, do we need a reason to relish mangoes? We have mangoes with roti, puri, rice, as chutney, pickle, curry, salad, lassi, ice cream, with water, milk, curd, and the list goes on and on. We eat mangoes with mangoes!
4. Indians never waste any part of mango. Here’s a breakdown:
- Raw mango is used to make pickles, dried to make powder to flavour curries, or devoured just like that as kacchi kairi with namak-mirch.
- Ripe mangoes are had with anything and everything (read point 3).
- Mango peel and seed are dried, spiced and enjoyed as a snack or pachak.
- Even the mango leaves adorn the houses as garlands over the doors - said to bring good luck, prosperity, and happiness!
This shows our love for mangoes, right? No? Read on…
5. Travel during the mango season — and you can spot almost every Indian proudly carrying boxes of mangoes as gifts for their loved ones. The airports, railway stations, bus stands or even taxis are filled with the sweet aroma of this juicy fruit. And why not? Mango is treated as a royal gift — it is liquid gold!
6. We have competitions around mangoes. Who can cut the best mango with unique shapes? Who can eat the mangoes fastest? Remember having a guthli-eating competition with cousins to see whose mango seed was whiter!? Ooh! Those childhood days…
7. And when the mango season is about to get over, we stock up on mangoes — to juice it, pulp it, and preserve it in the freezer to relish it for the rest of the year till the next mango season!
Mango can be found in every home, in every dish, in everyone’s heart. Our blood turns yellow due to excess of aamras. And why not? Mango is the king of fruits and our national fruit!
Aren’t we a crazy lot who simply can’t get enough of mangoes? Yep! We think so too… 😀
Mango is an emotion, and we feel it too deeply which is why we have shaped your favourite flavour in a new DESi avatar ❤️
Check out our brand new DESi POPZ Mango Lollipop made with your favourite mango and no preservatives, added colour, or sugar.
Available in kaccha aam and real aam flavours.
--Written By Simran Doshi
