This year has not seen a bumper mango harvest, yet that has not deterred eateries from hosting mango festivals.
Pride Plaza in New Town started one this week which will continue till July 10. “The festival will cover both lunch and dinner. We are primarily using Langda and Himsagar,” said chef Tagar Shaikh.
Mango lends itself easily to drinks and desserts. So Aam Panna, Raw Mango Mojito and Mango Lassi are on offer at the start while mango custard, mango cheese cake and mango chhana payesh provide the options for a sweet finale.
Starters have been tackled by adding mango salsa to prawn cocktail in one and mango slices to vegetable spring roll alongside carrot, beans and cucumber.
It is the main course where the challenge lies, admitted the chef. Instead of ripe, it is raw mango which is largely in use here. “An easy option with mango would be to make Chingri Machher Malaikari. But we are making Aam Chingri Korma (priced Rs 470) instead, infusing raw mango flavour in the gravy by adding raw mango paste to the paste of cashew nuts, onions and melon seeds. Achieving the balance between sweetness and tanginess is tough,” he said.
A not-so-common fish, shol, has been chosen to make Aam Shol (priced Rs 470), for which the home-style fish curry has again been infused with raw mango paste, adding a tangy edge. The other non-vegetarian option is Aam diye Mangsher Jhol. (priced Rs 530) “Since mutton takes time to cook, we add clunks of raw mango which would melt by the time the mutton is ready,” chef Shaikh said.
Vegetarians may order Aam Mochar Paturi (priced Rs 470) which also uses chopped raw mango with grated coconut with steamed rice.