Hyderabad: Baiganapalli, Himayat, Pedda Rasalu, Dasheri, Totapuri, Alphonso, Langra, or Cheruku Rasalu. Hyderabad’s mango season arrives with a whole vocabulary. “We would buy a full peti, never just a few,” says Bindu Bhandari, a home cook based in Kokapet. “Put them in a tub of ice and eat as many as we could, followed by methi lassi and a long nap. That was our Sunday in May.”
It’s the time when mangoes return to homes, restaurants, memories and appetites. And mangoes become a way of remembering, feasting and improvising. One Reddit user wrote, “My grandma wouldn’t let us near the pickle room. That entire part of the house was forbidden till the jars were sealed. But I still remember the smell.” Another shared, “I grew up abroad, but we’d come to Hyderabad in May every year, only for Rasalu.”
Restaurants now tapping into this shared memory. The Aamotsav menu at Rajthali in Jubilee Hills, for instance, offers mango puran poli, kacchi kairi samosa, mango ring dhokla and mango pizza as part of its Aamotsav thali till June 15. 63 Degrees in Gachibowli is running a mango pickle mixing event till May 31.
Then there are chefs like Farha Naaz, (@curiouscatcooks) from Guwahati, whose recent Mamazaki pop-up at The Leela’s Raen studio served mango in newer Northeastern forms. “I wanted to reinterpret northeastern dishes, so we did a charred raw mango sharbat with pani puri. The dessert was baked yoghurt with mango and jaggery. Our Joha Yakhni Arancini had mango-apple slaw packed into pulao-filled balls.” She says many guests who tried her mango creations ended up following her online.
If restaurants are where mangoes get reinvented, homes are where they continue to be remembered. Bindu, who runs BB Home Kitchen, prepares an old-style sweet chutney called lauji using raw mango, sugar, jaggery, methi dana and kalonji. “Takes no time,” she says. “Tastes better a day later.” She also makes kulfi-stuffed mangoes, aam panna, falooda, aam papad and coconut-mango laddus.
While old recipes are steady, the market has made room for the health-conscious. “You get mango kombucha, cold brew, protein shakes with real pulp,” says fitness enthusiast Nikhil G. “You get mango-flavoured Greek yoghurt which is great when you’re craving something cold but don’t want to overdo it.” His flatmate Gaurav adds, “I tried raw mango sushi at Ko Ko Kai. It was surprisingly good.” Gaurav, who is also new to the city, notes how mango malai at a juice centre in Old City had blown his mind the first time he had it. “Nikhil made me try and wow. I have never had anything like it ever. We make guests try it now, it’s a rule.”
“Mango is for summer. Jaggery is for winter,” said Sabyasachi Roy Chowdhury, who has documented food in the city for years. He sees mango as a bridge between cuisines. “In Telugu homes, you have mamidikaya pappu, pachadi and of course avakai. Muddapappu Avakaya Annam is a popular comfort dish in restaurants here like Spicy Venue. In Bengali kitchens, you get mango chutney, mango daal and aam kasundi. But also the fusion dishes are great. I remember mango-marinated lamb chops at Farzi Café. Mango is used here in all hues and aspects.”
Cafés across town have filled their displays with mango cheesecakes, custards, tarts and smoothie bowls. Habitat Café now has mango French toast on its menu, while ice cream parlours rotate kulfis, faloodas and sundaes. One Secunderabad resident said, “Every year, I go to Shyam Niwas for aamras. It’s non-negotiable.”
Hyderabad’s bond with mango isn’t just culinary, it is intimate, improvised, intergenerational and proudly cosmopolitan.
