Most probably ” Safaeda Aam” provided your mango lassi dude is not putting mango essence, pulp or some other concoction in the name of Mango.
To be honest, junk the dude . Do it yourself. Making mango lassi is dead simple- buy Safeda Mango, peel it, cut it in medium size chunks, toss them in the mixer-grinder-blender ( what ever you call it) add curd, add sugar ( if you are into it) and press the button. In about 2 minutes or less you will have your own home made mango lassi ready. All thanks to modern technology and Safeda – a mango made in heaven for Lassi’s and shakes. Poor guy gets blended into everything because it has no fibre :).
What Safeda lacks in fibre it makes up in history and grandiose. For instance go down south and suddenly Safeda becomes Banganpalli. Now that is what I call a grand name for a mango. Safeda is called Safeda only in North India because of its looks (pale white yellowish color). And you know that in North India looks and ” gora rang” is all that matters.
Banganpalli a.k.a Safeda comes from the historic town of Banganapalle in Andhra Pradesh, India . Banganapalle finds mention in pre- independence history of India- the Mughal’s, The Nawab’s and the British Raj. You can read more about it here.
When it comes to mangoes people are more loyal then the King himself. There is a lot of mango rivalry among true blue mango eaters- some say that Alphonso is the undisputed king and others swear by Dasahari or Langda.
I feel that with the exception of may be Langda- both Alphonso and Dasahri are quite boring and done to death. Alphonso is your typical pricey snob with nothing exciting to offer . Dasahari from Malihabad has only one character- pulpy and sweet. Safeda is a down to earth working class but a charming big fellow ( Imagine he changed his name to make us comfortable). He has a king like name but is stuck in blenders and kid’s meals.
The king of Mangoes for me are these little fellas that are hanging down from the trees in their natural environment – the jungles, by highways and in the playgrounds. No one knows who planted them or how they came to life.You cannot miss them. They have big trunk, huge canopy ,lots of shade and they provide shelter to birds, monkeys and a whole lot of wild life . You cannot domesticate them and grow them in abundance as you do with the likes of Alphonso and Dassahri. Like Kings they have a mind of their own. They will decide when they will ripen and fall .The only way to have them is to fight them- climb the tree or throw a stone ( and be aware that what goes up sometimes comes down and falls on your head)
Like Kings they are quite un-predictable too. You can never make out the sweet from the sour and when you are in luck you can find both flavors in one. After battling with a “Tokri” full of them you will have their flavors, juices and fibre play hide and seek in your mouth, on your hands and on your clothes.
That is when you know that you have savored the ” King of Mangoes”
Thanks a lot for sharing this information, i love mango lassi and i wonder why people go for artificial drinks with mango flavor when they have the option of excellent drink. One of my family friend adds flavored drinks while making Mango lassi and i wonder why anyone even considers doing such a thing. Anyways Mango is a refreshing fruit but sadly its seasonal. i hope some agricultural scientist invents any way to produce Mango all round a year.
thanks for visiting and sharing this note. I totally agree with you. Mangoes are amazing and they should be eaten fresh or freshly blended. Enough of the artificial junk. I however like them only in season- like they say seasonal fruits and veggies have a reason to be seasonal and they are good for your health. But then this is just me 🙂