The Sheherwali community’s annual mango festival was back at ITC Sonar last month. This community of Jain traders, known as “Sheherwalis” or “city-dwellers”, migrated to Murshidabad during the Mughal period from their homes in Rajasthan. Their cuisine features a unique fusion of Bengali, Mughlai and Rajasthani tastes, and given the large variety of mangoes available in Murshidabad, incorporates the King of Fruits into many dishes. 

The Murshidabad Heritage Development Society, the custodian of this heritage, celebrated it with the International Murshidabad Mango Festival. Along with 16 varieties of mangoes, including the Bhawani, Nawab Pasand, Enayak Pasand, Chandan Kosa and Dudhiya Anaras, letters from Downing Street, bearing the signature of Arthur Balfour, the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom, in gratitude for the gift of these mangoes, were exhibited at the do. 

Vijay Malhotra, executive chef, ITC Sonar, helped to create a fusion menu of international dishes paired with the mangoes. Glimpses from an event steeped in culture and tradition… 

(From top) A centrepiece of the different varieties of mango at the festival; the delicate and in-demand Kohitoor mango, which has to be kept wrapped in cotton wool to keep it from getting spoilt; the Dudhiya Anaras, which tastes of sweet pineapple; the display of heirlooms from the Singhi, Nowlakha and Dudhoria families, which are more than a century old each and have to be cleaned with ash after every use; a demonstration of the special technique of cutting the mangoes, which have to be soaked first for two to three hours and held very lightly while being cut to avoid staining the flesh. 

Maharaja of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh, checked out the mango-infused chocolates by R.D. Creations, set up by Rupa Dugar. His presence lent a special flavour to the festival, as he is known for his work in preserving heritage and culture.

The British deputy high Commissioner, Bruce Bucknell, commented that the mangoes that were exported to Britain before the arrival of air travel had to go a long way and were often not in the best condition when they arrived. “So, we got fixated on mango chutney, rather than the fruit itself!” he said, adding that he himself has a Bhawani mango tree in his garden. 

Shamlu Dudeja’s favourite mango was the Champa, since it had a sweet after-taste. She also tried the Kaccha Aam Bites from R.D. Creations, and thought that they tasted like aam papad!

Text: Rushati Mukherjee. Pictures: B. Halder