Mallika madness!

This year in particular, Bangalore seems to have got a bumper crop of Mallika mangoes. For a 'sensible' Rs.40-45/- one can buy a kg of the ripe and wonderfully flavoursome variety which I prefer over the Bainganpallis and (well its debatable) Raspuris. No one can change my love for the Malgoba which we Bangaloreans have always enjoyed in season. But this year in particular we were told that due to 'unseasonal' rains, the mango crop will be dismal.
However, the crop has been astounding and particularly the huge quantitites of Mallika. They have made me into a mango addict and thats not very good for a diabetic!

On the farm two trees got beautifully large fruit, but as usual when the time came for picking, I was told by the venerable (he is a young rogue) Narsimappa, that the fruit had fallen with the breeze and so he threw them away. I could have gladly strangled him. BUT, in his usual casual fashion said, the next round I will see that you get them Amma --- and that by the way is NEXT year, IF the mango trees fruit!

As kids we always gorged on really HUGE Malgobas which grew on the tree on Hayes Road. However the trees just stopped fruiting for years now, no matter what we feed them.The Mallikas are a graft and just 5 feet off the ground have begun to fruit.They are apparently a new variety, so hats off to the Botanist or Dendrologist who stumbled on this delicious variety. They are fleshy, divinely falvourful and the seeds are narrow almost flat, giving the fruit much more meat!

I have cubed three kgs and frozen them in the freezer for Dave and Andy to make trifle when they come for the wedding in October!They are not fruit crazy, but I have tasted the awful Jamaican mangoes in the US and after paying an arm and a leg for them, I can say without a doubt, our Indian mangoes are the best!

Here's my friend Caroline Martis Radhakrishnan's ( & I thought I had a long name!) recipe to enjoy -
Pulp from 1kg mango(any fibreless one), 200g nilgiri cream, sugar pdr if needed, gelatine 3tbs. Puree pulp & sugar pdr (if using). Whip cream til stiff. Soak gel in 3 tbs water for 5min & then melt over double boiler. blend pulp, gel well. Fold in cream well. chill til set. decorate with mango slivers or piped cream ... or just your tongue :-))

Try it, I am going to tomorrow. As you can see I have got the mangos!