BENGALURU: Nothing spells summer better than mangoes. And restaurants in Bengaluru are making the most of this seasonal treat by giving their menus a mango flavour. From conventional mango ice creams and cheesecakes to innovative savouries like ripe mango fritters and nachos, the king of fruits is occupying the pride of place.
Come next week, SodaBottleOpenerWala will serve ‘keri kanda par eedu’, a mixture of onions and ripe mango and spices, baked with eggs on top and served with pav. There will be ‘keri chicken’, a Parsi-style chicken curry cooked with ripe mangoes, or the ‘keri nu samosa’, a thin pastry stuffed with a mango mixture and icecream. “The recipes have been derived from traditional Parsi fare that go back generations. Also, we use locally available mangoes only,” says chef Anahita Dhondy.
The restaurant has also whipped up cocktails like mango and peach sangria, mango and chilli caiproshka and a raw mango martini. Social and Smoke House Deli, too, have added mango cocktails to their menus for a limited time.
Ripe mangoes are not associated with savoury dishes, but that hasn’t stopped Monkey Bar head chef Dheeraj Varma from introducing mango nachos and a mango fish curry for a month-long ‘Aam Party Campaign’.
“We serve nachos with fresh mango and bhut jolokia (a spicy pepper from the Northeast) cream, topped with raw mangoes. It’s a fun take on a classic dish. People are looking forward to experimenting more now. Also, the sweetness and tartness of mangoes go very well with a bar setup,” Varma says. Last year, this place introduced two mango-based desserts. “I was adamant about going further this year and put on savoury dishes as well,” Varma adds.
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Bonsouth in Koramangala is experimenting with savoury dishes like ‘Malabar maanga curry’ — a fresh mango korma — and crisp fried ripe mango pakodas, while at Café Felix you can try mango avocado toast and cajun chicken, mango and quinoa.
While cocktails and savoury dishes with mango are still new, mango desserts are well established. Chef Dinesh Sharma of Misu, which has its mango with sticky rice dessert every year, says the fruit’s rarity makes people open to experimentation. “You get good mangoes for two months tops. We get phone calls asking if our mango sticky rice is available or not.” Dessert place Smoor will be setting up an ice-cream truck to dole out fresh Alphonso mango ice creams and sundaes till the end of June. Other hot favourites on offer are mango cupcakes, mango macrons and mango truffles. “People love seasonal dishes since they are always fresh,” Kanchan Achpal, chief marketing officer at Smoor, said.
While South Indian restaurant Carnatic has opened a mango festival, Salt Mango Tree is using raw mango as the souring agent in its popular fish curry.
Rich Fruits: From $50K For 12 Mangoes To $4,395 For A Single Strawberry
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A pair of Yubari King Melons sold for $29,300 at an auction in Japan recently. Here’s a taste of some other expensive fruits.
A pair of Yubari King Melons sold for $29,300 at an auction in Japan recently. Here’s a taste of some other expensive fruits.
$6,000
Densuke Watermelons sell at auctions in Japan for exorbitant prices, typically anywhere from $2000-5000, per melon. Those big prices are only paid for the first few lots of the annual crop yield. A 2014 crop, however, broke all records, selling for a cool $6,000 per fruit. The extremely rare fruit is sweeter than regular watermelons, a little rounder and are a shade of pink, instead of the usual red on the inside. They are also known for their black and shiny skin as well as for their crunchy texture.
$6,000
Densuke Watermelons sell at auctions in Japan for exorbitant prices, typically anywhere from $2000-5000, per melon. Those big prices are only paid for the first few lots of the annual crop yi..
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$50,000
One might be forgiven for thinking that the world’s most expensive mango would come from India or some other tropical country. However, this record is held by Australia, where a tray of 12 mangoes were sold for a cool $50,000 in 2010. That made each mango worth about $4,000. The mangoes were purchased by Carlo Lorenti, owner of Clayfield Markets Fresh, one of Australia’s largest green grocery firms at an auction in Brisbane. Australia has been holding mango auctions since 1998 in celebration of the summer harvest season. Japan also attempts to claim they have the most valuable mangoes with a pair of mangoes called Ears of Sun sold for $2,000 each in April 2008.
$50,000
One might be forgiven for thinking that the world’s most expensive mango would come from India or some other tropical country. However, this record is held by Australia, where a tray of 12 m..
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$4,395
There’s no Wimbledon without some traditional strawberries and cream. Taking the tryst of these berries and tennis forward, scientists in the UK engineered a giant breed of the fruit that can grow to the size of tennis balls. The new strawberry plant— Gigantella Maxim in Latin — produces strawberries that can fill the palm of a hand. At an auction in 2017, one of these giant strawberries was sold for $4,395. Obviously, some of these are shipped to Wimbledon for the elegant few who can afford to indulge in them.
$4,395
There’s no Wimbledon without some traditional strawberries and cream. Taking the tryst of these berries and tennis forward, scientists in the UK engineered a giant breed of the fruit that can..
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$14,600
About the size of a ping pong ball, this variety of luscious red grapes grow in Japan. They were sold for $14,600 a bunch in 2016. With 30 grapes in the bunch, the cost of each fruit was approximately $480.
In 2008, the Ruby Roman grape debuted as a new variety of premium grapes in Japan and was so named via a public referendum. For a grape variety to be counted as a Ruby Roman, it must be over 20 gm and should have over 18 per cent of sugar.
$14,600
About the size of a ping pong ball, this variety of luscious red grapes grow in Japan. They were sold for $14,600 a bunch in 2016. With 30 grapes in the bunch, the cost of each fruit was app..
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$13,000
Rare, exotic and hard to grow, pineapples were a symbol of great status and wealth in Victorian times. This rings true even today, that is if your pineapples come from Cornwall. Cultivated at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, each of these carefully tended pineapples are worth a fortune. In 2012, each fruit was auctioned for $13,000. Traditional techniques are used to grow the fruit, complete with Victorian-style greenhouses and frequent changes of fresh horse manure. The resulting fruit is always “sweet, delicious and not stringy with an explosive flavour”, according to a Lost Garden spokesperson.
(All representative images)
$13,000
Rare, exotic and hard to grow, pineapples were a symbol of great status and wealth in Victorian times. This rings true even today, that is if your pineapples come from Cornwall. Cultivated a..
