It’s that time of the year again when we find ourselves replacing meals with the indulgent sweetness of mangoes. A delicious variety of chutneys and achaars (pickle) too, become a merry accompaniment at breakfast, lunch and dinner. As quoted by the famous and incomparable Mirza Ghalib,

Who doesn’t love aam (mango), except donkeys!

The mango, commonly called the king of fruits, was first noticed and consumed some four thousand years ago. Ain-Akbari, the almost life chronicles of Akbar the great, talks about the mango:

*The Persians call this fruit Naghzak, as appears from a verse of Khusrau. This fruit is unrivalled in colour, smell, and taste; and some of the gourmands of Turan and Iran place it above muskmelons and grapes.

There are green, yellow, red, variegated, sweet, and subacid mangoes. The flower which opens in spring, resembles that of the vine, has a good smell and looks very curious. About a month after the leaves have made their appearance, the fruit is sour, and is used for preserves and pickle. The fruit