How to cut mangoes and serve

Summer special 

There are many kids who wait for the examinations to end  for the year and eagerly wait for the mango season to enjoy. I have spent all my childhood days in Madras ( Now Chennai ). My father had a fancy for cutting mangoes , which I have improvised in later years . I am detailing the art of mango criss-cross cutting with minimum wastage & maximum enjoyment with added fun , which is the theme of this post.  As you will see at the end , excepting the seed and the end part of the mango , everything is utilised .

I am using for this post , the Mango Alphonso , available in plenty in Maharashtra.

Alphonso : This is the leading commercial variety of Maharashtra state and one of the choicest varieties of the country. This variety is known by different names in different regions, viz. Badami, Gundu, Khader, Appas, Happus and Kagdi Happus. The fruit of this variety is medium in size, ovate oblique in shape and orange yellow in colour. The fruit quality is excellent and keeping quality is good. It has been found good for canning purpose. It is a mid season variety.

Final Product : 

Step 1:

Choose good quality Alphonso mangoes . The fruits should not be soft.

Step 2:

Make 3 slices of each mango as shown with a stainless steel knife. Do not use High Carbon Steel knives as they will react with the mango juice. 

Step 3:

Make straight horizontal cuts with a sharp knife . Please ensure that the knife touches the bottom but not touch the skin at intervals of 3 to 4 mm. Do not be in a hurry till you complete all the lines.  Repeat this procedure till all the four slices are cut horizontally . Next individually cut the side slices cross wise using the same knife and with the same precaution. The cut pieces appear square. 

Step 4:

Holding with both hands, sitting on a comfortable chair , slowly bend the edges and slightly pushing the bottom of the mango side slice upwards. Your patience and skill will be known now. 

Step 5:

Now , the seed part of the mango.

Remove the outer skin of seed leaving some small portion of the mango flesh  as shown. With small cutters or zig zag scissors or by any other means , you can make your own designs of the peeled skin. 

Step 6:

Make small cuts criss-cross on the edges of the seed and with a broad knife transfer the pieces into a small bowl. Use only stainless steel knife and  minimum use of hands. 

Step 7:

When all the pieces are cut , pour heated and cooled milk over the cut pieces and keep it in Fridge for a while.

You can use a spoon to scoop out the mango flesh. The designer-skin pieces can be swallowed as they are. 

Is  the minimum wastage ensured ?  

Wish you all a happy mango season. 

 Mallika :                   

   It is from a cross of Neelum x Dashehari. Its fruit is large in size, oblong    elliptical and in shape cadmium yellow in colour. Fruit and keeping quality are good. It is a mid season variety.                                                               

Today – 26.04.2013 , I could get a piece of Mallika Mango in Bangalore . You can see the thinness of the skin and the shining petals . The fruit is very tasty and enjoyable.

Guava Single stroke de-seeding : You like it ?

Your comments for improvements will be highly appreciated.  

I am interested to know more about your blogs and posts.

Rangarajan  Ramaswamy Bangalore 16.04.2013  03:30 pm

How to peel Mosambi or a Citrus limetta

Mosambi – In India, the tendency for most people is to eat this fruit mostly when they are unwell. Mosambi juice is often given to aid faster recuperation. Also in keeping with the age old custom of offering fruits while visiting friends and family, Mosambi is a favorite. 

My earliest memories of enjoying this fruit or Oranges as they are called , dates back to the early 1950's. It was watching my Father peeling it for us, in front of us , doing it casually but carefully. We used to sit in a semi-circle around him and watch the Oranges being peeled and transformed in front of us without a single drop of juice falling on the floor. 

Mosambi is a very healthy fruit available almost all the year round and it is a welcome offer, to  someone back home after a strenuous day of work. I take pleasure in watching children enjoying the peeled fruit and swallowing them, one by one, eyeing for more. They obviously observe 'No formalities'.   

I will attempt to express the steps involved in peeling the Mosambi, as I am doing them.

How to select a good Mosambi:  Look for a shine, smoothness and thinness of the skin. Select from light yellow/green to green. The greener ones need a few days to ripen. Preferably store them in a way that does not cut of air circulation.

Seven easy steps in peeling Mosambi:

Step 1: The gadgets required are very basic and simple except for the toothed knife.

Step 2: US a little pressure to roll the Mosambi between your palms to relieve any stresses due to transportation and storage. This will activate the juice content inside and will release the thin membrane skin from the fruity sections. You will feel the effect when you do this.

Step 3: With the sharp knife, make 8 incisions all around, deep enough to penetrate the outer rind but not to touch the sections inside. Cut along the lines through the 8 incisions, one by one till the rind opens up. This requires some practice and moreover patience.

Step 4: With a sharp knife, follow along or run along the separating grooves of the sections and make the incisions deep enough but not to damage the fruit. Approx. 10 nos will come in one Mosambi.

Step 5: With a small pair of scissors, cut both ends at an angle and remove the hard edges along the center to allow easy removal of the thick outer skin. It is essential to follow this step.

Step 6: The separated edges from the corner and ends of the sections are shown below. Now, it is time to separate the skin from the sections on both sides of the section. The step above helps a lot in the process. I hope you are enjoying this so far.

Step 7: The moment of truth ?

Hope the step-by-step photographic execution of peeling of Mosambi is easy to understand and convinces you to try some on the weekend !!! :)

Guava Single stroke de-seeding : You like it ?

I do hope you have enjoyed and now it is time to receive your comments. 

I am interested to know more about your blogs and posts.

Rangarajan Ramaswamy Bangalore 04.02.2013 03:00 pm