The sweet taste of ripe mangoes comes after a long year's wait, and nutritionally the fruit is among the best. Many people do not know how to keep ripe mangoes for a long time, but a few simple methods let you store them for up to a year. The Agriculture Information Service (AIS) has set them out.

First pick ripe, unblemished mangoes. Leave out any that are bruised or split, because even if stored they do not keep long. Wash the mangoes well in water and peel them; there is no need to wash them again after peeling.

Cut the peeled mangoes into small pieces and put them in a zip-lock bag, a few pieces at a time rather than many together. Seal the bag, place it in a bowl and put it in the deep freezer. Stored this way, the mango will keep all year.

Collect ripe mangoes and remove any that are crushed, rotten or insect-damaged. Wash the rest in water, making sure no sap is left on the skin, then wipe them with a soft cloth. To store whole mangoes you need three kinds of bag: paper, cloth and polythene. First put the dry mangoes in paper bags (if you have none, wrap them in newspaper), then put these in a cloth bag and the cloth bag in a polythene bag, and keep it in the deep freezer.

Cut the mangoes into small pieces and freeze them in an ice or ice-cream tray. Once frozen, take the pieces out and put them in a zip-lock bag. Place the bag in a bowl, seal it and keep the bowl in the deep freezer. Kept this way, you can enjoy tasty mangoes all year.

Peel ripe mangoes and blend them. Freeze the pulp in the deep freezer, then put the frozen pulp in zip-lock bags and store them in the deep freezer. This too keeps for about a year, and the pulp can be used to make lassi, smoothies, pudding, juice, ice cream and more.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.