Mango mania grips Goa

This King of Fruits in India, is the favourite of all and Goa has its own special varieties of mangoes including the most popular one, Mankurad. It has caught an international attention, resulting into the birth of a Mankurad Festival on May 6

| APRIL 22, 2018, 06:48 PM IST
Mango mania grips Goa

Bharati Pawaskar  


It’s the right time to be in Goa, for the lovers of the king of fruits - Mango. With golden yellow mangoes of various varieties out in the local markets, Goa has come alive with mango madness and people are franticly bargaining to get their hands on the prized fruit for the right price. The price is still high but who cares, when it comes to mangoes!   

An assorted of range of mangoes and other locally grown fruits are at display at the ongoing Konkan Fruit Fest 2018 in Margao. This three-day festival is an yearly event organised by the Botanical Society of Goa (BSG). This time it is organised jointly by ‘We for Fatorda’ and BSG, and has a host of competitions, workshops, stalls, food, entertainment and fun for three days.   

Availing the occasion of the mango season, most five-star hotels and other small and big restaurants also organise mango festivals wherein the guests and invitees enjoy a number of delicacies. The mango mania is not restricted only to Goa or India. Goans who travel or live abroad have taken it with them just like John Desa, a Goan working in Qatar.   

“I have been living in Qatar for many years and am lucky, as here, I can eat mangoes from across the world which are available in the market throughout the year. I am very fond of this fruit, especially our exclusive Goan variety - Mankurad.” smiles Desa, adding, “It’s the speciality of our state and it’s high time we should preserve it for our future generations. I am afraid this variety will soon disappear from the face of earth if we don’t nurture the existing trees and plant more, not only in our backyards but on a larger scale in our farms for export.”   

To popularise and promote his favourite fruit, this year Desa has taken lead in organising ‘Mankurad Mango Festival’ in Goa on May 6 and soon he will be flywing down to his home state from Qatar to participate in it and to motivate the local farmers to grow and produce more of this delicious fruit.   

Founder member of a group ‘Transform Goa’ along with like-minded friends, Desa is launching a drive to popularise and promote the Mankurad which he fears will go extinct if we don’t take proper care to save it. “ Our aim is pure and sweet in initiating the Mankurad festival. The festival will not only have displays of the fruit and dishes made out of it, but it will help bring an awareness among the local cultivators to nurture their existing trees and grow young plants out of the seeds for sale,” observes Desa who is madly in love with Mankurad.   

Mankurad Festival is a part of a bigger event - ‘Taste of Goa’ - a weeklong celebration beginning on May 6 organised by  the NGO, Goa For Giving. “Taste of Goa’ is happening at 30 plus restaurants across Goa that will serve a speciality menu for the week.  ‘Taste of Goa’ begins with Mankurad Festival on day one, May 6 focussing on this special mango,” briefs Shaeen Gonsalves, chairperson at ‘Taste of Goa.   

Let’s not forget the other varieties of mangoes in Goa which are also very popular for their peculiar tastes and qualities. -Malgesh, also known as Malgess which means difficult to digest in Portuguese. Then there is Culas which is popular for its peculiar flavour which is tangy and not very sweet.One variety of mangoes which is not popular and has limited cultivation in North Goa is Bishop. It is a choice only if the other varieties are unavailable or expensive. 

Afons, which is also known as Goa Appus/Hapus or Goa Alfonso is big. It is fast disappearing as the Ratnagiri Alfonso is gaining popularity for its better quality as far as shelf life is concerned to this local variety.   

Hilario which has many names - Mang Hilario, Mangilar, Mangilal etc is hugely popular in North Goa. It fetches a good price in the market as it is very sweet. There’s story behind its name - it is told that the tree originated in the garden of one Hilario Fernandes from Siolim in the Bardez taluka and hence it got its name from its owner. 

Another of North Goa cultivation is of Mussarat or Monserrate de Bardez named after the taluka where it originated. . 

Fernandin also known as Fernandina is very popular because of its quality of not getting spoilt by rain or by fruit flies. The most juicy mango variety in Goa is that of Xavier which is very sweet in taste. 

Apart from Goa’s own variety, the local markets get flooded with mangoes from other states too, especially Konkan area, Karnataka and Gujarat. Some varieties like Dashahari and Langda come from Uttar Pradesh in monsoon. 

“When raw they are used for pickles and chutneys, added to curries and desserts, put into drinks and eaten raw. But the pleasure of eating a fresh, fully ripened, sweet mango is heavenly,” admits Manisha Khatavkar, who runs Tasty Cooking Classes in Ponda to share her secret mango recipes with her pupils.

“I cook and teach simple as well as exotic, international recipes of all sorts and during mango season it’s all about mangoes - raw or ripe. When raw I make panha, pickles, chunda, chutney, bhel etc. When ripe mangoes can be added to other dishes like sheera, vadi, kapa, lassy, shrikhand, milkshake, smoothies, juices or make jams, saath, halva, tango etc,” she quips.

But ask her the most favourite of all these and not stopping for a moment to think pat comes her reply - “Given a choice I would pluck a mango from the tree, never mind raw or ripe, peal it and eat it directly without even cutting it into slices. Mango should taste like mango and nothing else. Acccording to Ayurveda it’s a complete fruit that gives vigour to the body as naturally ripe mango adds lot of calories to your diet. So honour and enjoy this ‘King of Fruits’ before the season turns its leaf.” 

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