mango Mango Mangoes........

Mango mango mangoes....mad I go behind mangoes!

Mango is not only the king of fruits but also the National Fruit of our country. It's an oldest fruit which has its place in hindu mythological story about Lord ganesha and Lord karthik (murugan) contesting with each other for winning the fruit and fixed a race to go around the world. It stands first among the trio (mukkani in Tamil) viz. Mango, Jack fruit and Banana.
  
Everyone eagerly awaits for the Mango season to arrive. Whatever be the variety of mango you get in your region, mango has a special place in people's heart.

Start of the season brings in the tender mango which is used in pickles. Nothing is comparable to its taste. It has a special aroma and the crunchy texture makes it even more interesting. I love my simple meal of Curd rice and Tender Mango Pickle.

Then arrives the fully grown raw mango. They can be pickled as well as eaten raw or mixed in chats and salads, we make a curry using a combo of mango + cucumber (manga kootan) and mango pachadi (a sweet accompaniment).

Many love to eat raw mango with little salt and chilli powder. mouthwatering isn't it? ;-)

Various types of pickles can be prepared and accordingly the shape changes.

• Normal pickle - with just salt & red chilli powder
• Instant pickle - we also call it manga curry served in feasts.
• Pickled in salt - which can also be used to make raita (arachakalaki)
• Avakkai - the famous pickle from Andhra Pradesh
• Thokku - the mango pieces looks mushy 
• Chunda pickle - sweet version from Gujarat
• Sweet & spicy Pickle - pickles using salt, red chilli powder and jaggery
• Tender Mango Pickle - plain salt as well as spicy version
• Lot more to go in this list as per the region and tradition.............

We can prepare "Raw Mango Rice" - a variety rice using the less sour variety known as 'thothapuri' which is little elongated with a curve at one end.

A traditional simple curry using raw mangaoes called "Manga Kootan" - specially made in the month of April (during the Malayalam New Year Vishu).

Then comes the season of ripen mangoes.....

wow! what a variety of them available in our country!! Let me try to list atleast those what I know (good memory game!) ......

1. Alphonso (ratnagiri / devgad etc)
2. Badami / Banganapalli
3. Thothapuri / kili mooku
4. Neelam
5. Chakkarakutti (TN special) - sweetest of all!
6. Salem Malgoa
7. Kesar

Mampazha pulissery (curry / khadi) using ripened mangoes never miss my menu during the season.


In Gujarat & Maharashtra you get the famous "aamras" during the season. Aamras and puri is a very good combination that goes in every gujarathi house during the season. The pulp of the sweet ripened mango is extracted and preserved to be used for this purpose. Hotels too serve aamras during the mango season as a sweet accompaniment to a thali.

I recently had tepla with aamras. wow! what a combo it was!!!!

waiting to taste this season's alphonso.................

wish you all a happy time munching into sweet mangoes.

Harichampa / Manoranjitham / Artabotrys hexapetalus

Manoranjitham (Hari Champa) is a very incredible frgrant flower with a fruity smell.  Known as 'Harichampa' in Hindi, Botanical name Artabotrys hexapetalus.

It was in abundant in my aunt's home once upon a time. As there were snakes in the garden especially cobras, no one went  near to pluck one except bold elderly ladies. I don't know what connection the snake & the flower has exactly but I thought as it looked more like a semi tree-creeper than a plant, it offered cool shade & good cover which might have attracted the snakes.

It is a green colour flower which turns yellow when becomes old, finally falls down. 

During one of my walk in the recent days in the community garden, I was surprised when a cool breeze brought me a faint smell of the flower ,I thought it could be due to a flash of memory but another puff of air confirmed that I am not dreaming........which made me stare at each and every vegetation i came across my walk. Finally identified the birth place of the aromatic flower. There were 7 such plants planted near  the fence on one side. Luckily, I could spot the green flower hanging from one tip though it has camaouflaged itself very well.  

Soon I was lost into my childhood days at my aunt's place where went  for holidays. It was a rare flower for a city dweller like me to see and feel its fragrance. I was so happy to find one so near me and I was so happy as if I have met one of my old friend (yes, it is!) after 25 years .

I spotted a bench near the first one and seated myself........back into my nostalgic world, .............. I like them to be on plants as I know it will have more life in it than in my hands.

Four days after that, I again went to the park for my evening walk and saw the green flower has turned yellow. During my last round of walk a I saw the flower on the bed of grass under the plant.

Like how I feel refreshed with the smell it is making many noses & souls happy and that plant has found some meaning in its life by making others happy and I am still trying to find mine......

When I hear the word Green - Part II

Green

Green leafy vegetables are good source of minerals & vitamins. There are so many varities available and each has unique taste & flavour. 

Tamizh Nadu (southern state of India) is famous for the variety of leafy vegetables / spinach. The vendor used to bring nearly 15 varieties of them daily in her basket.  She calls their names so clearly without missing them...I wonder how they do that so efficiently !  I love leafy vegetable very much. 

Let me see how good I am remembering their name though I lost touch with the land of keerais for many years. For those who don't know tamizh, any leafy vegetable comes with a surname 'keerai' meaning 'greens'.

1. Arai keerai
2. Molai Keerai
3. Siru Keerai
4. Paruppu Keerai
5. Vendhiya keerai  (Methi)
6. Murungai Keerai
7. Agathi Keerai
8. Ponnanganni keerai
9. Podi ponnanganni keerai
10. Manathakkali keerai
11. Pulippu keerai
12. Aaraa keerai
13. vallarai keerai
14. Thoodhuvalai keerai
15. Modaikathaan keerai
16. pasalai keerai
17. Paalak keerai
18. Karisalangkannii keerai
19. ceylon keerai (muyal kaadhelai)
20. sevappu keerai (amranth)
21. Thandu keerai

I loved the manithakkali, siru keerai and mola keerai very much.

When we went to an exibhition during my early school days, in a big screen they were showing some commercials and documentaries. One such documentary was about the spinach. To make people understand the importance of the greens the created a drama featuring a family ...I don't remember the story now exactly but only recollect a small girl who got her vision back saying "pachai keeraiyaal palichidum paarvai"/ பச்சைக் கீரையால் பளிச்சிடும் பார்வை (meaning : the greens improves the vision)

Apart from the above, there are certain leaves which grows in the kitchen that are used as a keerai like raddish leaves, carrot leaves, Beetroot leaves, the tender leaves of Ashgroud creeper, Pomegranate plant etc

During my childhood days, my mother used to tell lot of stories during dinner or at bed time. One such nayanar story impressed me a lot and I loved the way they treated their guests though they themselves were poor to earn even their single meal in a day.Yes, He is "Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar".

 Image courtesy : google search

"Ilayankudi mara nayanar was a wealthy man who donated his wealth by feeding the shiva devotess and the poor. He never said no to anyone. The god wanted Mara Nayanar's glory to shine in the world hence he slowly god shrunked his wealth. But Mara Nayanar borrowed & continued his service.

One night Lord Shiva in the disguise of a shiva devotee knocked at his door. It was raining very heavily with lightening & thunder. It was pitch dark outside. Nayanar opened the door, was felt so happy that he was given a chance to serve a shiva devotee. He called the devotee inside, gave him his only spare cloth to him to change his wet ones. Then the devotee said he was very hungry. So nayanar told his wife to prepare food for him. Unfortunately there was not a single rice grain or vegetable available at home that time because he had sowed the seeds in his filed only in the morning. For a farmer the grain seeds are so important that they will never use it for any other purpose other than sowing it for the next crop season. But our Mara Nayanar in that heavy thunderstorm rain & dark night started towards his field with a basket to rbing the rice grain home to feed the shiva devotee.

As it was raining heavily and dark outside, the field was filled with water upto knee deep. There were wells situated on the way to irrigate the fields. Those wells never had any covering or walls to prevent anyone falling into it. But with shiva's grace he was guided through the right path by the flash of lightening. Nayanar managed to collect the grains with the help of his towel and put them in the basket & set towards home.

In the meantime, Mara Nayanar's wife went to her kitchen garden & plucked the spinach leaves the plant of which were just emerged from the ground , washed, cleaned & started cooking it.

Nayanar gave the wet grains to his wife who removed the skin & cooked it. Both of them served a simple yet very very delicious food to the shiva devotee who came to their house in the odd hours of the night. Lord shiva was so pleased that he came out of his disguise, belssed nayanar and his wife with a wealth that equalled kubera."

The story had left such an impact on me that I love  enjoy a simple life and simple food. My mother too grew pomegranate plant, papaya, lemon tree, manithakkali keerai, ceylon keerai, bittergourd creeper and other plants in the little soil that was available near the kitchen. 

Those freshly plucked bittergourds tasted yummy than the store brought one. I am the one who jumped like a monkey to the sunshade and to the nearby areas where my foot hold, to harvest the produce for my mother whether it was a bitter gourd or the papaya on the tree. 

The leaves she plucked from the spinach plants were just a handful, which she cooked a simple dry dish for me and I enjoyed it so much because the fresh ones cooked with my mother's love tasted yummiest than any other dish in the world. I enjoyed it by mixing with white rice and enjoyed my food. that time, we both remembered only the mara nayanar life history and I pester my mother to narrate the story again and again.............

When I hear the word Green - Part I

I first recognised the colour in my childhood days when my mother introduced me into the world of nature by describing things around us & developed the habit of admiring Nature and enjoy the changing ambiance around. Thus I grew up becoming a nature lover.

During my childhood days, whenever I was given an injection, she always told me to look into something green in colour which will lessen my pain. Whether it did or not, I had the habit of watching green things inside the clinic while getting injected and luckily those days, many doctors had a green curtain in their clinic.

When I happened to see a crow's nest. I was so surprised to see the green spotted eggs as I have seen only white eggs till then.

When I first saw a green flower in my uncle's place. I have never seen a flour which is green in colour till then. It is a 'kanakambaram' (tamizh language) flower. which is known in english as 'firecracker flower' and botanical name crossandra infundibuliformis.

Normally it is seen in three different colours. Orange, Dark red like orange and yellow :-

 image courtesy : google search

the green one taken during one of our trip looked like this :-

My mother said during her childhood days, the house where they stayed in had a green rose tree. It was so old and has grown big & thick like a tree. Though I have not seen one in real so far, here is the link for a green rose which one of my blog pal is growing in her garden and recently made a post on that :-

http://artandcraft-artahead.blogspot.in/2012/03/green-rose.html

I love the green grasses in the lawn. Love to lie on them & stare at the blue sky above me. I love to do night sky watching lying on the cool grass on a hot summer day.

Greenery brings freshness to our eyes and mind. That is why we love to sit in a garden or enjoy our trip to a hillstation or country side. 

With the increasing concrete jungle culture, seeing greenery  is like a oasis on a dessert. Some bring green into their house with pot garden. whether it is a normal plant or a bonsai or terrarium. Whatever be the form, they bring a life into our house. Due to lack of space, I could not go for big potted plants. Hence I bought small indoor plants to satisfy my love for plants.

Terrarium :-

they are miniature garden which grows on moss. In places where there are water shortage, these comes handy. Here is the link to the sight which talks about terrarium and how to make a terrarium "http://www.stormthecastle.com/terrarium/"

Image courtesy :- google search

Green is also considered as a symbol for prosperity. who will not love to see lush green around them!  Luckily we have big gardens in our area to satisfy that thirst of our eyes.

The sahyadri hills & western ghats get covered with lush green carpet during the monsoon season. During winter we can see blossoms of various colours blooming here & there making tiny decorative patches on the green carpet. I still remember our trip to Matheran and Mahabaleshwar during the end of monsoon season. I was not having the camera that time to share the pictures with you. But they are still fresh in my mind.

Green Colour plays such an important part in our life refreshing our mind as well as soul.

Let us go green :-)

Continued.............. part - II