REWIND: SUMMER VACATIONS IN KERALA

Not that the summer has officially ended nor autumn/fall has officially begun, but it already feels cold and my favourite green jacket is out, but I am still in a mood for one of my summer favourite childhood snack.Indian stores here still sell raw mangoes and I couldn't keep my hands off them.

<<< Rewind <<<<
Characters: Tia & Ria

We are first cousins and used to be stuck together ALL the time. She is my bestest cousin and still is and will always be.Period. When I had to decide upon my bridesmaids, I didn't have to think about her, because she was there and will be there...or else I'll be dead!

Our summer in Pallikuttumma was always fun-filled, laughter-filled, care free days[How can I forget the million disturbed night's sleep that I have had with her. She used to sleep talk and walk around the room muttering all sort of possible stuff, some of which had a connection to the previous days activities and most of them have no connection with anything.By the way, if you think she has grown out of it, well, no!] .We had almost 4-5 varieties of mango trees around the house and they yielded mangoes throughout the year. Our main job during the holidays was to eat them, both raw and ripe. Ripe ones were eaten without guilt (the word calorie never existed for us then!) in it's pure form. Pure form in the sense, we just eat them like all our ancestors did long long ago :-)

We used to grab a mango rather mangoes one after another from beneath our uncle's bed (that's where all the ripe mangoes were stored) and not to mention, take in all of the ripe mangoe's smell hovering in the room and run outside and 'plop' ourselves on the hammock tied between a guava and a mango tree. Then, we used to bite into the mango right through it's yellowish orange skin , spit out the skin and eat the flesh. The mangoes were so juicy that the juice would have been running all the way till our elbows. After that mango is over, I used to lick my fingers, palm and all the way up to my elbow making sure that I don't waste a bit of it's juice.  I never (then) knew why it's tasted salty and muddy towards my elbow :-)

Then it was our turn to attack the green mangoes.Maybe Tia did notice my love for food and cooking, she would always give me the turn or rather always asked me to do it. So between us, it was always me who used to chop the mangoes (in no particular shape) add a dash of hot red chilli powder , a generous helping of salt (Oh! I love salt! Especially drinking salt solution!) and a few tablespoons of my favourite favourite wonderful coconut oil! Then I mix it all up with a spoon and run outside towards the hammock with the bowl carefully nestling in my hands . Then we forget all the fights that we had over sharing my 'never ending' barbie doll collection, or over our cooking set or even somebody else's playing cards and just enjoy the sweetness , sourness and everything in between mixed with saltiness and the spice.

After eating a bowlful of that ,our teeth, especially mine, would be so tart  that if I try rubbing my teeth together,I used to get a shiver/shock...a dirty one all over my body,the same type Whoopie Goldberg gives you in Sister Act.I knew it would happen, but eating the raw mangoes were worth it!

Now we both are continents and oceans which separates them apart, but, everytime I eat the raw mangoes, I think of you :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>> Fast Forward >>>>

I am the host for Tried & Tested for the month of September. Blog of the month is Alka's Sindi Rasoi.


The rules are simple:

• Cook any recipe(s) from Blog of the month and post about it. Stay as true to the original recipe(s) as possible. Therefore, there is no need for re-posting it, simply link to the original post :-) There is no time-frame for the original recipe. It can be as old as my grand-mother or as fresh as a mung bean sprout.
• Have you cooked from Blog of the month before? As this event is all about tasting and reflecting on the taste, older posts are also welcome. Simply link to this post and mention T&T event.
• Link your post to Ria's Collection and to the original post on Lakshmi's blog. Please always link to both sites, so both blogs are given credit and you are avoiding copyright fuss.
• Send your entries to airmathew AT gmail DOT com with the following details: subject as T&T, with your name, your post URL as well as the original URL and a picture (300px by height, please).
• Deadline is the 10th of October and the round up will be posted within a week.
• Non-bloggers are more than welcome to participate (after all, our posts are mainly being written for them). Simply e-mail me with your experience of what you cooked and please include a picture.

I will upload the logo for the even as soon as possible. Please do check back and try to include them in your posts.Ksenia will be making the logo for us.Thank you so much, Ksenia!