About the Indian mango - there are way more than 10 varieties! The annual Delhi Mango Festival showcases over 300 Indian varieties - from tiny ones to some that weigh over 5 lbs!

Lucette–thank you!

Trig–mangoes are very important to the Indian people (and the Persians, as well, come to think of it), not only as a food, but as a religious and cultural symbol. They are symbols of femininity and fertility, and you find stylized versions of mangoes all over Indian artworks, in temples, in decorated spiritual manuscripts, and on textiles, in the form of paisleys. Yes! Paisley designs are stylized mango fruit! Mango designs are used in henna art on women’s hands and feet, particularly for brides to bring good luck, fertility and beauty to the bride.

And in India, there are so many different varieties of mangoes–I am used to the only one or two or three kinds I have come across here in the US, but there are more than a dozen varieties there, and they are all prized for different flavors, levels of juice, colors, aromas and textures. Such an abundance of richness!

The Mogul kitchens used a lot of fruits, not only mangoes, in their cookery to add sweetness and tartness to savory and spicy dishes. It was one of the marks of the royal tables. That was part of what made me think of naming this curry after a princess.

Madhur Jaffrey is the reason I had the guts to try and cook Indian food in the first place, even though I had never tasted it the first time I cooked it. I was intrigued by her description, and emboldened by the fact that she learned from letters sent home by her mother.

Of course, the fact that I had dreamed of going to India all through my childhood and had my mouth water at the descriptions of Indian food in books for years helped me along.

You are lucky to have grown up in the UK where there is Indian food all around to taste and experience. In West Virginia and SE Ohio here in the US where I am from–that is not the case.

But, I have lived in other places with amazing restaurants and have learned much from eating at those, and I have been very privileged to learn in the kitchens of many Northern Indian home cooks, so it has not turned out too badly for me.

Thank you, tilo!