Mango ginger is pretty common where I come from(Kerala). I was delighted to find that my local supermarket had started stocking it and rushed to the shelf to stock up. That’s when an extremely concerned store employee came running up to me. “Sir, sir, this not ginger sir!
I politely told him that I knew what I was buying but he was insistent that I don’t buy it. After I managed to convince him that I wasn’t some ignoramus, I realized that there must be some back story to this so I asked the store clerk to recount whatever it was that had got him so worked up. This is what he told me.
A few weeks earlier, a young lass had strolled into the store and mistaken the Mango ginger for regular ginger and purchased a bunch. A few days later, she marched in with her irate mother in tow and demanded they speak to the manager.
So it turned out that the girl had got a marriage proposal and her future in-laws were visiting them to seal the deal. As was customary, she made a batch of what she thought was ginger tea but in reality, was mango ginger tea.
Mango ginger is not regular ginger. With mild notes of mango with a sharp spicy flavour, mango ginger is popularly used to make delicious chutneys, salads and stir-fries, Recipes for which I will curate and post shortly. It tastes nothing like real ginger.
Back to the scene of the marriage fixing. As the blushing bride proudly brought out a tray of tea to impress her in-laws, their faces glowed with pride. Now, what happened next, I only know through the retelling by the store clerk. I can’t vouch for any embellishments to the story but I’d like to believe it is true.
The future father-in-law is said to have spat out the tea with the future mother-in-law, aghast that the bride did not even know how to make a cup of tea. Understandably the daughter and mother duo at the store held the store responsible for selling them this ginger which was arguably off.
Let me just reiterate here – mango ginger is an amazing ingredient. It’s like something you’ve never tasted before and will likely love. You can make amazing chutneys, stir-fries, curries salads and much more. But you CANNOT make tea with it.
Don’t be like the naïve girl at the store. Buy a bunch of mango ginger with your Farmizen Tribes order this week and whip up some dishes that will make you fall in love with this unique ingredient.
Visit tribe.farmizen.com to sign up for a tribe in your locality.
Here are some cool recipes to try out.
Mango Ginger Pachadi
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