The Mango Kit

What sits on our counter from March to June

Twelve things that sit on our counter from March to June. Most of them are not necessary — a newspaper-lined carton and a sharp knife have run this season for generations. These are just the ones that earned their place, and each tile says which guide explains why.

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In the kitchen

Cutting, pulping and the one shortcut we allow ourselves in the off-season.

Cutting Steel mango cutter & pulp separator Cheeks off in one press. Worth it when you are cutting a dozen, pointless for one. View on Amazon
Why we use it →
Kulfi Steel kulfi moulds, pack of 6 Steel pulls heat out faster than plastic, so you get fewer ice crystals and a denser set. View on Amazon
Why we use it →
Off-season Tinned Ratnagiri Alphonso pulp Not a substitute for fresh fruit. It is the honest answer in November. View on Amazon
Why we use it →
Cutting Paring knife, Swiss made A sharp small blade does what every mango gadget claims to, and it does the other fifty weeks as well. View on Amazon
The knife our cutting guide has recommended all along.
Aamras Hand blender Aamras is made by hand and tastes better for it. This is for the evening you have not got an hour. View on Amazon
A stick blender, not a mixer — it goes into the bowl, so there is one less jar to wash.

Ripening and storage

Keeping the fruit in one layer on the way up, and sealed once it is cut.

Ripening Bamboo ripening tray A peti arrives as one stacked block. This is where the first dozen come out to, so you can watch them ripen instead of digging through a carton every morning. View on Amazon
One tray per dozen is about right for a 24 peti.
Fridge Shallow fridge boxes By day five of a peti, more fruit is ripe than anyone can eat. This is where the surplus goes once it has softened — in a layer of its own, not wedged beside the onions. View on Amazon
Ripe fruit only. Raw Alphonso must never see the fridge.
Ripening Room thermometer and humidity meter Alphonso ripens on the night temperature, not the afternoon one. Knowing your room’s low tells you whether the peti has five days in it or eight. View on Amazon
Worth one season. After that you know your own house.
Carrying Insulated icebox, 14 litre For the drive home from the orchard, or the peti that has to sit in a car boot for three hours. View on Amazon
A cooler box rather than a gift carton. It keeps heat out, not in.
Ripening Two-tier fruit basket Two shallow layers beat one deep bowl. Nothing sits under anything else, which is the whole rule. View on Amazon
Dining-table size. For a full peti you still want a tray per dozen.

Weighing and checking

For the one week you want to know what a portion and a peti actually weigh.

Portion Kitchen scale, 1 g resolution Worth a week in April to learn what a mango of each grade actually weighs, so that afterwards you can judge a box by eye and stop weighing anything. View on Amazon
A calibration exercise, not a habit, and not a medical device.
At the door Hanging scale for a peti For weighing a whole box at the door against what you were told it would be. It settles an argument with a seller; it does not tell you anything about the fruit. View on Amazon
We sell by count, so this is for checking anyone who sells by weight.

What is deliberately not here

Carbide sachets, ethylene ripening powders and anything sold as a “mango ripener”. Hay, a closed carton and five days do the same job, and the first two are illegal to use on food in India. We also do not list a glucometer next to the kitchen scale, however neatly it would fit the nutrition guide — that is a medical purchase and it belongs in a conversation with a doctor, not a tile on a mango site.

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