For all mango lovers who thought the 'king of fruits' is just to dig your teeth into or is to be sipped through a straw as a juice or shake, there is more this summer! For, the land of nawabs has come a long way from the times that mangoes were sucked under trees in the orchards of Mallihabad while seated on charpoys or wooden cots.Mangoes of all hues and varieties now have far more 'brand value' for foodies as they are now being used in a bevy of dishes in this Uttar Pradesh capital. In summer, they not only form an integral part of a meal, being cut into slices for after-dinner eating but are also being used, almost in every second household, in varied forms. Abhishek Verma, an outlet manager at a prominent food chain, told IANS that customers now "want to venture beyond the shakes and the smoothies".
"Small kids and even older customers often ask if we have something new on mangoes on our menu and for this reason, our chefs have evolved various new items," Harshad Gupta, the owner of Madhurima Sweets, a prominent shop here that has come up with new offerings like 'mango passion' and 'mango kulfi', told IANS, adding: "Every year we value add to our recipes in summer."The 'mango passion' is a three-tier dessert which comes in layers of a mango and a white and a dark chocolate layer. Priced at Rs.1,100 a kg, the mango passion comes as a refreshing surprise with the chocolate and alphonso mango mix.The mango pista kulfi is another coolant which titillates your taste buds. Cooked with calorie-rich kesar milk, mango, khoya, rice flour and badam, it is served in an earthern pot - a kullhad - at Rs 60 a unit.
Ram Asrey, another famous and very old sweet shop on Nawal Kishore Road, serves some mouthwatering mango kheer - a concoction of shredded sweet mangoes, milk and khoya. Relished by hundreds of loyal 'Mangoites' the dish has been wowing everyone who lays his or her hands on it. Aadesh Roy, a mango lover, says he waits every summer for the mango kheer.Mango khatti-mithi kadhi, mango truffle, mango souffle, mango shahi tukda and mango cakes are some other mango dishes that are adding variety to the mango mania this year!