In our plantation, we had three or four naatu mango trees—tall, towering ones that had been there for years. These trees were special. Unlike other mangoes that are picked early and ripened at home, these ones followed their own rhythm. When the wind blew just right, the ripe mangoes would fall to the ground. Their sweet and sour aroma would fill the air long before we even spotted them.

The mangoes were small, a lot like the Chandrakaran variety, but their flavour was unforgettable. Even when they were fully ripe, a hint of sourness lingered.

Every summer vacation, Appa would hand me a plastic bucket/cover and send me out to collect the fallen mangoes. I used to grumble and drag my feet. Though it was called summer vacation, for us in Puliyara the monsoons had usually already begun. The grass would be wet with last night’s rain, the path would be muddy and slippery. Sometimes we would land flat on our backsides in the slush. But there was a reason we had to go early as the wild boars knew about the mangoes too. If we didn’t get there first, they’d have their share.

Despite all the fuss, once we were out there, there was joy in the ritual. We would pick the mangoes one by one, eating a few as we went along—sticky hands, messy faces, hearts full. Whatever was left would go into the kitchen, where Amma would turn them into manga curry.

Today, while having mampazha pulissery for lunch, something about the taste took me straight back to those mornings. The rain kissed air, the smell of ripe mangoes, Appa’s voice calling from the Thinnah (Verandah), and the way childhood felt. It was simple, honest, and full of flavour.

Some meals feed more than the body. They bring back pieces of home.