It would be sacrilege (at this moment & season) to begin my story, without the mention of The Mango (hereon, mentioned as such: The Mango). I cannot in words, let you fathom my LOVE for The Mango. It is not for just any reason, crowned as ‘The King of Fruits’. There is an absolute valid reason for it; and I am his humble servant.
It’s been almost 10 years here and I have NEVER EVER had the ‘privilege’ of enjoying my beloved Mango, as I did back home in India. I had given up on my fantasy of seeing and craving for that smooth, creamy sunny skin and to breathe in his giddying fragrance; to bite into his lusciousness and taste his sweetness oozing through his meaty flesh.
Now, before I elaborate any further, do understand that the past 3 crazy years we all have been in together, do not count. What a waste eh? And these are my exact feelings and emotions penned down, as I salivated looking at them in the year 2019.
So, carrying on, we did buy mangoes here before, however, they did not live up to my fantasy, that was in fact, a reality at one point. I gave up hopelessly and voila, one day, we found these fabulous mounds and at last, could lay our hands into my fantasy and we devoured them, in reality! For the first time in SEVEN LONG YEARS, I got to taste mangoes just like back home. OMG, heaven; I was there.
Back home, dad used to buy this ‘tokri’/crate, from mango wale chacha or kaka, depending on his geography, and we could feast on ONE WHOLE MANGO to oneself. No sharing, no fighting over the bigger piece, etc. Can you picture the picture? One whole mango to yourself?
Here, we usually share between the two of us and it isn’t as bad.
Now, if I were to speak about the sunny ripe mangoes, it would be sacrilege to NOT talk about the green raw mangoes. Whenever we buy these, or “borrow” these from the ones hanging over the fence (hey, don’t blame me. Have you even seen my video on them? How can I? How can you? I judge you for not doing it. Ppff), I always make the ‘रस्ते वाले चाचा की recipe’ (roadside street vendor, we so fondly called ‘Chacha’, meaning Uncle’s recipe) . You remember? Him waiting for us, outside school, during recess? Waiting there to entice us with his goodies in his wicker basket?? Now, now, don’t get weird ideas. Not ALL चाचाझ/chachas/uncles were bad. They did in fact have goodies in the basket we couldn’t resist.
And, believe me, once you try out this recipe, you will be surprised at all that you missed. Kachche Aam wale recipe. Raw Mango recipe. You cut thin (green, raw) mango slices, add salt/black salt/chaat (to taste), red chili powder/paprika for the faint hearted & weak tummy’s, turmeric powder and voila. (P.S.: A swig of lemon gives the added oomph to this already lip-smacking chomp. Ssshhh). You have this awesomeness of tang, spice and all things nice, to munch on. This is always a HIT by the way, as most people do not know about this. How lucky are you now, eh?
So, now I can only wait in anticipation, to see the golden glow in my life. And, very soon, they shall be here. Goose bumps.
Vagabond Rootz 