Join the city as it turns loyally yellow and re-discover your love for the King, this mango season 

Here's a list of bakers, restaurants and five-stars are offering a spin on the season’s fresh produce
Mango special
Mango special

Let’s be honest—very few things come close to eating a fresh, ripe mango. Rich, juicy and sweet, this is comfort food at its best and usually comes with a healthy dose of nostalgia. However, if you’ve outgrown relishing a staple bowl of cut fruit,  the city’s bakers, restaurants and five-stars are offering a spin on the season’s fresh produce with a range of beverages, thick shakes, salads, starters, curries and desserts. Here a list of our must tries from across the city.

Still I rice
Try a bowl of the sweet chilly mango fried rice that refreshes with its raw mango zest from the kitchen of Chef Saratchandra Banerji at Vivanta by Taj. “Experimenting with traditional dishes and some culinary creativity, we have curated other Chinese dishes like the sliced fish in sweet and sour mango sauce and the chilly mango vegetable also,” he adds. Rs 350 onwards.

 Time to curry on 
Bringing a non-vegetarian model of the famous Chettinad cuisine’s vegetarian dishes is this season’s mango specials from Chef Suresh B of Lemon Tree Hotels. Substituting vegetables with a meat of your choice, mutton or chicken, sample the spicy mango curries that are part of their main course. “Famed for ripening in ceramic jars, mangoes in Karaikudi are fermented in lemon juice, red chillies and sugar as a pickle for three days. We serve this homemade pickle alongside hot stuffed paniyarams and also parottas,” he shares. Also look out for their mango inspired dishes that celebrate raw mangoes and fruit in various beverages, desserts, main courses and starters this season. Rs 250 onwards. 

Tikking the right boxes
Ever wondered to what extent we would go to make a perfect evening snack? Check out a variety of fast foods in the form of aloo-mixed South Indian mango cutlets and spring rolls and North Indian mango tikkis from Chef Sajeesh Balan of Zone by the Park. Another exclusive is their crunchy mango in hot garlic sauce that is a semi-gravy of rare flavour combinations and best suited with rice. “We have even tried mango in pizza, chicken curries along with desserts like the dome cheesecake,” he adds. Rs 325 onwards.

For your ice only
There’s nothing better suited for a summer’s day than handcrafted ice pops from Frooze. “We experimented with flavour combinations of mangoes with coconut, ginger and lime but the fruit is just too perfect on its own,” admits Anjana Srinivasan, founder, speaking about the launch of their purest indulgences—Alphonso mango and Icy maanga. Sourcing Alphonsos from Maharashtra and killi mooku totapuris locally, these serve the goodness of the fruit both raw and ripened, without any artificial colours, flavouring and preservatives. At Frooze stores in Race Course and Bharathi Park. Rs 40 onwards.

Partake in cake
If there was anything better than a warm freshly baked cake, it would have to be this three-layered pound cake with fresh mango pieces, mango flavoured cream cheese and praline bits from Bakeroe. “We grow our mangoes in Thekkampatti in the Nilgiris and use seethooram, killi mooku, banganapalli and mallika during the early season and neelam during the late season,” shares Praveena J, founder. Also look for their season’s adaptation of mango baked yoghurt. Cake priced at Rs 800 per kg. At Race Course.

Sip and slurp
A light and healthy salad might just be the thing you need for a hot summer day, suggests Chef Prabhat Ranjan of Ibis Hotels. Tangy with raw mango, tomatoes, corn and pineapple chunks, the raw mango basil salad makes a great tasty meal filler. It is paired best with a glass of their aam panna that quenches thirst this season. Suggesting home recipes he adds, “Mango fits into any dish. So try the classic thenga patani sundal and grate a raw mango and a bit of carrot for a unique new taste of sweet and sour.” Rs 170 onwards.

Can’t shake this feeling 
If there’s any best way to down a mango effortlessly, is to stir up a shake. Creating a buzz in Ooty is Nahar’s Sidewalk Café with its sweet summer surprise as five delectable thick shakes made by Suresh M. Find in a glass holding 350gms, malgova and alphonso mangoes from Salem combined with a range of ice cream flavours, whipped cream, chocolate, nuts, berries and honey —making a complete meal in itself. Talking about the tourist responses, he adds, “As the summer creates a loss of appetite, they go for our filling shakes instead. We even make fruit salads with cream on request.”At Nahar’s Sidewalk Café, Upper Bazaar. Rs 290.

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