Best options for buying Indian or Pakistani mangos

[rogermunibond]

I've never tried to order Indian or Pakistani mango varieties online so wondering if the folks in this board have any favorite websites for this and any experience ordering from these sites.  In the past, I've always gone around to the South Asian groceries in my area in April-May-June looking for Alphonso or other well regarded varieties.

 

As a devoted mango fan, the situation in the US has been stuck in limbo for too long.  There was a good article in Vice on this topic back in 2018. 
 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/gyw4zb/alphonso-best-mangoes-india-us

[Pelagic]

This is a topic I know quite a bit about, I have roughly 15 mango varieties growing on my property here in S. FL and am always looking to add to the collection. Alphonsos are very good, I had two trees, but they are very poor producers in the US and one eventually succumbed to anthracnose. The other tree is still going strong but I don't expect much from it and will likely graft on to it with some of my other varieties.

 

I'd recommend trying some of the US grown varieties, they are excellent and cover a wide range of flavor profiles. I know a lot of South Florida growers will ship boxes of their available varieties so any time from March to October you can try some of our great offerings. Here's one grower that I know does it, they have a ton of YouTube content on different varieties and their flavor too: https://www.themangoplace.com/ and also https://miamifruit.org/

 

I haven't purchased from either of those growers or any others, I'm usually overloaded with my own and neighbors mangos during the summer months.

 

Some of our top varieties in my opinion to look for; coconut cream, lemon zest, lemon meringue, valencia pride, and sweet tart.

 

Of the commonly available "grocery store" mangos I'm partial to keitt (late season Sept/Oct) and Kent. Valencia Pride will occasionally make an appearance as its a commercially grown variety too. Unfortunately the most common variety is Tommy Atkins which is quite bland and gives American mangos a bad rep on the world stage - trust me we have some amazing varieties down here.

[adesigar]

If you want the best of the best you need to get Devgad Hapus. There is no comparison. They will only be available in April and May. They are faked a lot usually using other Mangoes from Ratnagiri so very difficult to know if you will get authentic ones here. I've only managed to get it twice in the US in the last 20 years and it wasn't as good because the taste is affected by the irradiation and temperature controls. Also only way to guarantee authentic is to find a site that take preorders for next year and specifies a window in which they will be made available.

 

Btw if you plan to eat a lot of mangoes, soak them in water for a while before eating otherwise they increase body heat. 

[Parsad]

28 minutes ago, adesigar said:

 

Btw if you plan to eat a lot of mangoes, soak them in water for a while before eating otherwise they increase body heat. 

 

In my 50 years of eating mangoes, this has never happened to me once...perhaps, because I live in frigid Canada!  Is this a naturopathic anecdote/symptom?

 

Or is it like that episode of Seinfeld where George eats a mango, and his testosterone jumps ending his short-term impotence!    Cheers!

[adesigar]

1 hour ago, Parsad said:

 

In my 50 years of eating mangoes, this has never happened to me once...perhaps, because I live in frigid Canada!  Is this a naturopathic anecdote/symptom?

 

Or is it like that episode of Seinfeld where George eats a mango, and his testosterone jumps ending his short-term impotence!    Cheers!

We used to eat them in India during summer and relatives have mango orchards so we used to get crates of them. Daily 3-5 mangoes. If you don’t soak them you ended  up with heat boils. 
 

https://m.recipes.timesofindia.com/us/articles/food-facts/why-soaking-fruits-in-water-is-a-healthy-habit/photostory/65843255.cms

 

When we vacationed at the orchard the trick to finding the perfectly ripe mango for a quick snack was to watch the squirrels. They let you to the juiciest mangoes. 

[Pelagic]

2 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

In my 50 years of eating mangoes, this has never happened to me once...perhaps, because I live in frigid Canada!  Is this a naturopathic anecdote/symptom?

 

Or is it like that episode of Seinfeld where George eats a mango, and his testosterone jumps ending his short-term impotence!    Cheers!

Roughly 30% of people experience a reaction in some form to the skin and sap of mangos, they're in the same family as poison ivy (and cashews). For most people the flesh itself is fine but if your lips touch the resinous compounds in the skin they can cause irritation - perhaps the dunking in water practice comes from washing the sap that drips down after harvesting off.

 

[rogermunibond]

Thanks Pelagic - great information on the US mango varietals.  I'll definitely have to look into getting a pre-order in for some of these varieties.

 

Here we have a lot of the Ataulfo mangos, which are certainly better than the Tommy Atkins.

 

Thanks Adesigar - I do sometimes get a bit of lip numbness from eating too many!  Never tried soaking them though.

[adesigar]

Haven’t ordered from them but these sites seem to be the best chance of getting authentic ones

 

https://www.savanifarms.com

https://www.mangozz.com
 

 

[Pelagic]

1 hour ago, rogermunibond said:

Thanks Pelagic - great information on the US mango varietals.  I'll definitely have to look into getting a pre-order in for some of these varieties.

 

Here we have a lot of the Ataulfo mangos, which are certainly better than the Tommy Atkins.

 

Thanks Adesigar - I do sometimes get a bit of lip numbness from eating too many!  Never tried soaking them though.

 

I did a bit of research last night after reading the Vice article you linked. There are several Indian varieties that are commonly grown here in FL, Carrie and Julie being the two most common. If that's the flavor you're looking for see if you can find them - both are great mangos.

 

I'm partial to mangos with citrus notes and a bit more tartness than is commonly found in Indian or Thai varieties but there's a mango for everyone.

[rogermunibond]

Thanks, rather than order from one of the importers, I think I'll try some S. Florida growers first.

 

One of them offers Kesar mangos, which I was introduced to many years ago by a friend who got them from the Indian Embassy in DC.  Unfortunately that channel for mangos dried up.

[Parsad]

20 hours ago, adesigar said:

We used to eat them in India during summer and relatives have mango orchards so we used to get crates of them. Daily 3-5 mangoes. If you don’t soak them you ended  up with heat boils. 
 

https://m.recipes.timesofindia.com/us/articles/food-facts/why-soaking-fruits-in-water-is-a-healthy-habit/photostory/65843255.cms

 

When we vacationed at the orchard the trick to finding the perfectly ripe mango for a quick snack was to watch the squirrels. They let you to the juiciest mangoes. 

 

Aha...3-5 mangoes a day...no wonder.  I eat like maybe one mango a week...no wonder nothing happened to me.

 

5 hours ago, Pelagic said:

 

 

I'm partial to mangos with citrus notes and a bit more tartness than is commonly found in Indian or Thai varieties but there's a mango for everyone.

 

The tart ones make fantastic chutneys or Indian pickles. 

 

Try making a mango and avocado salsa with finely chopped red onions...you'll go crazy for it.  Fantastic with salmon! 

 

Cheers!

[Pelagic]

Came across this article and thought of this thread.

 

https://www.eater.com/22618349/pakistani-mangoes-chaunsa-anwar-ratol-buy-usa-whatsapp-shipping-supply-chain

 

A bit of additional info if you're considering ordering mangos this spring/summer. I had a chance to visit Tropical Acres farm (https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/) a few weeks ago and they're an incredible wealth of mango knowledge, growing over 300 varieties on their property. They claim Alphonso's grow and produce well there due to their proximity to the coast and sandy soil as well as numerous other Indian and Pakistani varieties. They'll ship boxes of mangos to most of the US except California.

[vakilkp]

Have a friend who has 70 acres in Southern California around the wine region (Temecula).  He is open to having 10 or so acres dedicated to Mango groves.  Anyone have leads on companies or farmers who can set up a mango orchard?  Land is zoned for agriculture and surrounded by vineyards.  I do not have a lot of details but anticipate there will be costs involved in prepping the land (outside of just planting and gathering the plants).  He mentioned that there are vineyard set up services who set up vineyards for $25K per 5 acre.  The cost of getting the land ready is a separate charge though.  Any leads welcome. Thanks.