With the mango season setting in, we do a dissection of the fruit to help you decide how to eat and how much to eat

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But not the mango! The king of fruit is a shape-shifter! Its form and taste differ as the name changes. The fatty-juicy yellow safeda is a lovely mix of sweet and sour; small green dashahari is saccharine sweet; and half-green half-yellowish totapari is tangy. Mango is here and till August, one will see different varieties dominating the markets. Starting with safeda, dashahari, langra, chausa and gadha, the mango fest gets its closure with Amrapali — a vibrant orangy-red fruit, sweet and tangy in equal measure. But nostalgia in this part of the country is associated with a bucket full chusne wale aam gorged during summer vacation!

Nutritional break-up

Depending on the variety, a rough break-up of a bowl (per 165 gm serving) of mango levels up to:

• Calories: 99
• Protein: 1.4 gm
• Carbohydrates: 24.7 gm
• Fiber: 2.6 gm
• Sugar: 22.5 gm
• Fat: 0.6 gm
• Vitamin C: 67 per cent of the daily value
• Copper: 20 per cent of the daily value
• Folate: 18 per cent of the daily value
• Vitamin A: 10 per cent of the daily value
• Vitamin B6: 12 per cent of the daily value
• Vitamin E: 10 per cent of the daily value
• Vitamin K: 6 per cent of the daily value
• Potassium: 6 per cent of the daily value
• Magnesium: 4 per cent of the daily value

Packed with both micro and macro nutrients, it’s a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals, but lately gotten disrepute, losing favour with the diabetics, weight-watchers and those suffering from issues like fatty liver.

Madhu Sharma, former senior dietician at PGI, calls mango God’s best gift in the summer season. “It’s packed with multi-nutrients and is a good source of carb and fibre, which is very good for your gut health.” Busting myths, she avers, “Mango is for everybody, moderation being the key.” She advises about 100 gm of mango per day for everyone, provided you don’t have any other sweet fruit.” She, however, cautions one to keep away from mangoes perfect in shape, colour and size, as these might have been grown and ripened using chemicals.

Aam ke avatar

Through the length and breadth of the country, about 1,500 varieties of mangoes are cooked in myriad ways. Kachchi ambiyan that make an early appearance end up in martbans as aam ka acahar and last for years. Parantha and aam ka achar that used to be a tiffin staple earlier may have lost favour gen Z, but yet there are still a large number of pickle lovers. Then there is Aam Panna in the North to Aam Kasundi in Bengal to Mango Pulissery in Kerala. If mango shake has been a summer staple for decades, mango lassi, now launched by brands like Amul, is also gaining popularity. Timbale of quinoa, mango and avocado

Chef Kishan Hari, Cottage—7, shares his hit mango salad recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of white quinoa
• 1 mango
• 1 to 2 avocados
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 5 gm jalapeno, chopped
• 10 gm fresh coriander, chopped
• 4 gm fresh basil, chopped
• 1 lime
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of parsley
• 1 tablespoon of chopped almonds
• Some fresh microgreens

Instructions

• Wash quinoa in running water for a while.
• Then place it in a pot with 1 1/2 cups of hot water. Simmer for 15 minutes.
• Allow it to cool down. Set aside.
• Chop the mango in small squares and mix it with the chopped basil.
• Chop the avocado into squares and mix it with coriander, onion and jalapeno. Season it with salt and lime juice.
• Season the quinoa with salt and a little bit of olive oil.
• Then, using a cylindrical mould, make a base foundation of quinoa, then add on top the mango mix, then the avocado and finally some micro-greens on top.
• Then pour some green apple and celery juice.