Organic mango festival held in Kochi

Kochi, May 10 (ANI): To popularise organic food among the masses, a weeklong mango festival was held here this past week. It had over 150 rare varieties of mangoes, all cultivated and ripened using organic and natural methods.

Organised by Kochi-based Organic restaurant Lumiere, the speciality of the fest was that all the dishes put on display had been prepared using organic products and traditional recipes.

"I think we have brought almost most of them are organic. Varieties are from Karnataka and Kerala . So, normally, only modern varieties are here. We tried to bring more than 150 varieties. On top of that we are cooking with it. Cooking in different ways. We have done 25 varieties of pickles," said Manjunath P.R., Owner of Lumiere Organic Restaurant, Kochi.

Some of the rare and unique varieties of mangoes that fascinated maximum attention included coconut mangoes with a size and shape of a fully grown coconut. 'Mosambika aam', which tastes and smells exactly like a Mausmi (sweet lime), 'sugar free' mangos, 'Seb Ka Aam' which looked like an apple, 'Gulzar' and other unheard varieties of mangoes.

Besides several varieties of mangos being for public display, the organisers had also arranged other special mango delicacies prepared out of these mangoes using organic spices and herbs like mango pickles, mango cakes and muffins, mango juices and other items. Meanwhile, a large number of visiting mango lovers were delighted to see such a large variety at the mango festival.

"Organic means it is not polluted, it is not contaminated. It is naturally prepared. Other mangoes, other things, chemical manure is used butere chemical manure is not used. Only organic manure is used," said L.acob, a mango lover at the festival.

Around 30 varieties of special mango-based juices and combinations withther fruit, mango based products, vegetables and herbs also attracted a lot of attention of one and all during the festival.

The mango festival commenced on May 4 and lasted till May 10 (Sunday). By Juhan Samuel (ANI)