5 Delicious Ways To Add Mango To Your Summer Diet

Mango season is here! If you wait for summers just to indulge in sweet tasting mangoes, we feel you. The seasonal fruit is our all-time favourite too. We have already been savouring bowls and bowls of mangoes and using them to make decadent shakes and smoothies. Since we just can't get enough of it, now we have also discovered delicious other ways to add mangoes to our summer diet. We are talking salads, sandwiches, curries, one pot meals, bakes, desserts - you name it!

It's not without reason that mango is known as the king of fruits. It comes in different shapes and sizes, and the best part is that each variety is unique in flavour, making it a great ingredient to play around with in the kitchen. Varieties like Alphonso, Dasehri and Chaunsa are sweeter whereas Langra and Kesar are aromatic and flavourful, and Banganapalle usually has a slight tang. Here are exciting ways to use mangoes:

1. Mango Salsa

Looking for interesting sides to team with chips and crunchy appetisers? You can use mangoes to make a lip-smacking salsa. All you need to do is add one cup chopped mangoes, one cup chopped cucumber, half cup chopped onions, one tablespoon chopped jalapeños, one tablespoon lime juice and chopped coriander leaves in a bowl and mix well. Finish with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

2. Refreshing salads

Summer means eating light, so a refreshing salad will not only serve as a delicious meal but also provide you your dose of essential vitamins and minerals. Tossing up salads is quick and easy. Don't stress too much about salad dressings. Just remember to include different flavours (sweet, spicy, tangy, pungent), textures (crunchy, juicy, fleshy) and a few fresh herbs in each salad before drizzling olive oil and seasoning. Add mangoes to a simple cucumber-tomato-mint salad or spruce up a Caesar Salad. Mangoes pair well with grilled prawns, prosciutto and smoked chicken.

3. Mango muesli bowls

Nothing like starting the morning on a scrumptious note. Make your muesli bowl more power packed by adding fresh mangoes to it. You can slice the fruit and add to the bowl or make a pulp and mix it with the cooked oats. You can even make a delicious parfait using yoghurt and fresh mangoes.

4. Mango fish curry

What's comfort food for you? Fish curry and rice? If you love tangy fish curry like the ones commonly made in South Indian homes, then you will love the 'mango'licious spin to it. Pick slightly tangy mangoes to make the curry, replacing tamarind with it. Add in the spices as you please and indulge!

5. Mango Popsicles

A popular trend we saw last summer was going nuts about popsicles. The icy treat is ridiculously easy to make at home using fresh fruits, spices, herbs and/ or yoghurt. You only need to get hold of popsicle moulds and unleash your creativity - mango and litchi, mango and kiwi, mango and yogurt, mango and mint, among others.

Now that you have these lip-smacking ideas, make the most of mangoes this season!