Pakistani Honey Mangoes

What I really love about summer is the availability of some of the best varieties of mangoes you would ever taste anywhere in the world. From April to August, we can buy imported mangoes air-freighted from the Indian sub-continent, which taste better than what we get from a regular supermarket, which are transported via surface, all year round.

The season starts with the availability of Alphonso mangoes from India, from late spring, then to the Sindhri mangoes from Pakistan in early summer, to the best ones available now, and pictured, in mid-summer, the Chaunsa mangoes. I am not aure I spelt them correctly, but I am sure I have seen them available in Malaysia as well.

Over here in UK, they are not available in mainstream supermarkets. I am not sure why, but probably because they do not have long shelf lives and do not have a uniform unblemished appearance, which the major retailers seem to demand these days, at the expense of taste. However, in the large cities, they are widely available at all Asian stores (indian and chinese), and there is always adequate supply to meet the demand from the communities.

The prices have gone up significantly this year (what hasnt?!), to around £3 - £3.50 per 2kg box. In previous years, as recent as 2006, I have bought them for as little as £2 per box. Still, its only available for a short time annually and I have one daily when they are in season and is a truly prolonged culinary highlight for me, every summer!

Here is a pic of a 2kg box


And here is a Chaunsa mango, cut... not the best looking, but most delicious! Not a hint of sourness... just sweet through ad through!



And for the other mangoes that we get all year round, which I have also seen in Malaysia, here is a short review. They are plucked unripe, so that they can survive the long ship journey to the UK. These are not my photos

Tommy Atkins:
Probably the best looking mangoes money can buy, but that's where the loveliness ends! Taste is bland, texture is dry and full of fibres that sticks to your teeth. If you're lucky, you will get one that is more sweet than sour, but still it lacks a "taste" and has almost no smell. I never buy these!


Keitt:
The flesh is smooth and juicy and when ripe, has a dark yellow colour. Not fibrous at all. Probably the best supermarket mangoes you can buy in the UK. Usually sweet when and hardly ever sour. Looks are deceiving because the skin is pure green when unripe, but leave it a week or two and it changes to a blushy orange red.


Kent:
Like a cross between Tommy Atkins and Keitt. Less dark in colour and less sweet, but still ok to eat when nothing else is available. Slightly fibrous, but not too bad.

Fruits are good for you .. or are they?

We have just done the shopping for the following and this is the picture of our supply of fruit for the next seven days. We are two adults and a child under ten. Seems a lot, dont it? I am so glad we have large variety of fruits to choose from in the shops of Manchester, as you can see there are some mangoes, chinese pears and mandarin oranges in that pile. We have made it a habit to munch on a fruit when we have cravings for sweets and I personally find that sweet seedless grapes is the best substitute.

You'd think that eating all these fruits cannot do anything but good to your health wouldnt you. Well, as I have found out in the last few years, it does have a major health consequence..... your dental health. Consuming so much acid and not immediately brushing your teeth afterwards can have similar effects as eating sweets. My dental bills have gone up as a result and have lost a tooth, and possibly another in the next few weeks. So be warned..... be careful if you intend to go on a high fruit diet!

Mango Pandan Sago Pudding

Thanks to Daphne's recipe here, I have managed to embellish this to give it a unique pandan (screwpine) flavour.

Unfortunately, I have not used the best quality coconut milk here, but next time, I will make sure I get something better tasting.


The method is the same as Daphne's apart from me adding a blade of pandan leaf in the coconut milk, and also a drop of green pandan food flavouring. The result is a rich and satisfying dessert!



On a slightly different note, anyone recognise this Chow Kuey Teow seller from Penang? He was featured in a travel programme (Food Planet) in the UK. He has a manual hand operated fan underneath his wok, which I have never seen before. I just thought that his CKT must have been something special to be chosen for this programme, among the many excellent Penang CKT sellers on the island. How do you rate his CKT?