wild is but nature

home made spicy pickles
from wild baby mangoes

By Kulamarva Balakrishna

Vienna,Thursday,January 4, 2008:
(The photos show baby mangoes inside the tent and below
Mrs.Bhageerathi Subba Rao and Mr.Beeluru Subbha Rao
proudly showing off their 70 types of =appe=collection.kb)
Indian mangoes as fruit are known world wide.They are deliciousness
in incarnation.But who knows kid mangoes of India as the best of spicy
herbal pickles? Not London made Patak Pickles but home made by
sari clad kitchen experts.They start with selection of wild tender mangoes
grown in identified centuries old trees that every year in different branches
while self rejuvenating the other branches?A recent three day festival held
in Karnataka wood lands presented some 600 mango families selected
from the region.Farmer,environmentalist journalist Shree Padre attended the
three day festival and made all the inputs for the following feature for which
I am grateful.Similarly development journalist Shivananda Kalave had
personally gathered identified wild baby mango related data of some 300
subspecies to back up the festival deserves special mention and recognition.

In Dravidian languages =appe=appi=abbu=etc are the words to call darling

babies.They also call by this name a species of mangoes meant for spicy

pickling.Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Karnata states have

wood lands where live even today several centuries old tall mango trees

in the wild.Among them some are identified belonging to the species.From

them,less than 30 day old baby mangoes are picked for pickling.Sari clad

house wives with knowledge of traditions pickle them in ceramic jars

using some half dozen ingredients including natural oils for blending.These

tender mango pickles are used during meal.If Indonesians spread their

food plates with different dishes properly sorted as in =Nasi Gorang=

Indian eating taste is derived by using green tips of banana leaves as

plates.They will have for self help salt,pickle,boiled lentils,and herbal

pastes orderly set for eating main dishes as and when necessary to

enjoy classic six type of taste compositions of a meal.

Well prepared and conserved mango or lemon pickle or both top the taste

into climax.In festivities like ones held by old Maharajas of Trivancore-Cochin

as many as 80 kinds of side dishes are served in a three course vegetarian

meal.First course involves light soury soup,papadam,crisp fried lentil cakes,

and main selected cooked rice.It is followed by the second course covering

lentil soup known as =sambar=and different kinds of curries.This is followed

by an interval serving of sweats in liquid and solid forms.The final third

course has butter milk curry to be concluded with pure fresh butter milk

as drink,comparable to Turkish =ayron= but added with green chillies,

curry leaves and many times green coriander leaves, an accepted means

for promotion of normal metabolism in the vegetarian body.In all traditional

families they have individual favorite kitchen recipes.Know how for these are

transfered by mother in law to the young daughter in law just as the guru

transfers his knowledge to his disciple.

Today,as undivided families gradually disappear, the traditional culture is
preserved by holding festivals to exchange among participants the special
know how.Such a typical three day festival on baby mango pickles was held at
Sagar,Karnataka´s heart of four/five wood land districts was held.As a naturalist
environmental journalist,Shree Padre was a guest visitor.In the festival itself,
some 600 families participated.Some six thousand connoisseurs attended.
The festival was called =midi mavu 07=, meaning baby mango year 2007,
indicating this would be an annual feature in March April every year.This
means next year there may be participants from other three Southern states.
Efforts would be made by the organizers to present traditional kitchen as well,
in addition to the exhibition of baby mango pickles only.

The baby mangoes are selected for their stems which emit when picked,
resin of strong smell are basis of identification and selection of wild mango species.
The resin is the conserver,tincture, used in medicine as well by herbal doctors.
Healers collect them in bottle let them mature.If fresh resin when comes into contact
with human skin, the skin at once develops rupture,into boil and septic ulcer.
When body parts develop such ulcers for whatever causes, the mature tinctures
are used as remedies.

The festival was organized by Mr.Khadika Lakshminarayana Hegde,a modern
naturalist farmer who uses a special type of domesticated chicken as watch dogs
of the farm land.The birds protect themselves, protect farm environment and serve
as attraction.Besides, Hegde has his own model Hegde Farms to guide new farmers
as also runs a naturalists´ agricultural industry producing irrigating systems,
natural fertilizers,farm feeding systems.The festival was the first,for which Mr.Hegde
alone met the bill, in Indian terms more than Rs.300,000/ a fortune, which when
converted to dollars would make be about 8000/ under current exchange rate.

Mr.Hegde had gathered the interested families.Out of them Mr.B.Subba Rao and
his wife Bhageerathi were outstanding because they introduced some 70 sub-species
of the baby mango trees single handedly.They also explained different uses of wild baby
and young raw mangoes in the kitchen.A feat indeed. I am reminded of a
wine cellor I visited in Austria years ago in Steirmark federal province.Besides
good type of pumpkins the region specializes in white and red whines as well as
spirits.A farmer confronted us not only with his choice wine collection but also
some 350 kinds of spirits based on fruits he gathered for his personal museum
of spirits!

Says Mr.Subbarao:= This is only the beginning.I do not know when and how it will
end.Once get the best farmers,we can develop great many spice delicacies which
are disappearing now.=(end)