While you wait for the delayed monsoon to provide you with relief, savour the heavenly taste of the “King of Fruits”. The Telegraph finds out about where you can get the best mangoes in Patna and how you can enjoy them.

TOP 10 VARIETIES

• Dudhiya Malda: Digha, Patna

• Malda/Langara: Bhagalpur, Bettiah, Begusarai

• Bombaiya: Bettiah, Naugachia, Samastipur

• Jardalu: Bhagalpur and Bettiah

• Jarda: Bettiah and Chanpatia

• Daseri: Lucknow and Maliabad, Uttar Pradesh

• Chausa: Lucknow and Maliabad, Uttar Pradesh

• Gulabkhas: Bhagalpur in Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu

• Sipia: Hajipur

• Sukool: Hajipur

• Mithua: Bettiah

MOST IN DEMAND

Going by the demand in the local and export markets, Dudhiya Malda is undoubtedly the king. Jardalu is a close second, followed by Bombaiya. Langara, Daseri and Chausa are next in queue.

WHERE TO GET THEM?

• Bazaar Samiti, Rajendra Nagar

How to reach: Go east from Patna Junction roundabout to Kadamkuan till Dinkar roundabout on Nala Road. Go east from Dinkar roundabout till you reach Rajendra Nagar Stadium. Take the lane adjacent to the stadium on its southern flank and you’ll reach Bazaar Samiti.

• Digha mango orchard

How to reach: Ashiana Mor is 3-4km west from Patna zoo. Take a right from Ashiana Mor and go another 4km till you come across dense green forests on both sides of the Ashiana-Digha road. You would have to go down the right side of the road to enter the orchard, where you would find the mango farmers, who directly pluck mangoes from trees.

POCKET PINCH

The first supply of Dudhiya Malda arrives in the markets in the first week of June. One can get these mangoes only from the orchards in Digha. You and I will have to shell out between Rs 80 and Rs 100 per kg. Connoisseurs can savour this variety till end-June. Malda/Langara is available for Rs 50-60 per kg.

Know your mango

Every second fruit seller in the market will claim that he is selling Dudhiya Malda from Digha mango orchard but the farmers claim that all such mangoes are fake and belong to some ordinary varieties. “Original Dudhiya Malda is only sold in this orchard by the mango farmers. The flesh and seed of the fake Dudhiya Malda mangoes would be very thin. It would also have black spots,” said Raju Kumar, a mango farmer at Digha mango orchard.