Around this time of year, with mango season afoot in India, I confess to just a twinge of mango envy, and not a little nostalgia.

Picking through a few select memories, I find myself dreaming of long ago summers, and of coconut leaf mats, spread with rosy mangoes from my aunt’s farm ripening in fragrant quiet in my grandmother’s store room.

In boarding school, much longed for treats of Neelam or Malgova mangoes after lunch, came charged with the additional, if dubious, thrill of encountering a mango seed weevil scuttling out of the kernel, and the ensuing schoolgirl hysteria that it would set off!

In blisteringly hot summers in Delhi, my father, the official fruit (and fish) buyer in the family, would bring home baskets of mangoes from INA market, to be demolished in sittings that saw some of us put away four or five mangoes at a go. (I’ll not be naming names, besides Dussheri, Langda, Chausa… 😉 ) To say nothing of all those mangoes consumed in milkshakes, in ice cream, and with fresh cream, or in savoury delights like chutneys and pickles. There were so many ways to love this fruit and all those wonderful Indian varieties to choose from!

A far cry from the two or three standard varieties available here in Vancouver. Not to be ungrateful, though, because there are some pretty good mangoes from Mexico in the market already, and they’re going at reasonable prices too. (Unlike the limes from there, which have been in short supply and, where available, are selling at prices high enough to turn shoppers a gentle shade of green.)

The small quantity of Alphonso mangoes imported from India have never been anything but overpriced and disappointing, so for now, Viva Mexican mangoes!

Speaking of mangoes and shades of green, it’s time for some maangé pajji – my favourite accompaniment to a pulao or neyi kuul, and something I will happily eat on its own, anytime. Silky slivers of sweet mangoes in a cool, fresh, spiced yogurt base. So perfect for summer!

Fresh maangé pajji

Mangoes in spiced yogurt

• 3 cups thick yogurt, lightly whipped
• Salt to taste
• 2 –3 ripe mangoes

Grind together:

• 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
• 2-3 hot green chillis
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander
• A few leaves of mint (optional)
• 1 tsp mustard seed (powdered separately if your grinder won’t do the job)

Seasoning:

• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp  mustard seed
• 1 small sprig of curry leaves
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 2 red chillis, broken into large pieces

Peel and slice the mangoes into thin wedges and put into a bowl. You can dice the fruit too, but the they have a nicer texture when sliced long.

Whip the yogurt and salt together lightly, then whisk in the ground ingredients*. Mix thoroughly, and gently combine with the mangoes.

Heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard, red chillis, curry leaves and shallots. When the shallots begin to brown, pour the mixture over the mangoes and yogurt and serve.

*For variations on this type of pajji, including lightly cooked versions , see “fresh kaipuli pajji“.