- Thousands gathered at Dupont Circle in Washington for an Indian mango and biryani tasting event
- Indian-Americans from nearby states attended to enjoy varieties like Kesar, Langra, and Malda mangoes
- The annual Taste the Tropical Magic event has expanded to five booths offering mangoes, lassi, biryani, more
Thousands turned up at the Dupont Circle in downtown Washington to get a taste of Indian mangoes and scrumptious biryani as the Embassy of India hosted a tasting session.
Indian-Americans came to the Dupont Circle roundabout on Saturday from neighbouring Virginia and Maryland to relive the memories of yesteryears and relish the juiciest of mango varieties - Kesar, Langra, Malda and many more that were on offer.
"I have memories of my grandmother serving us mangoes during the summers. I came here just to get a taste of Indian mangoes," Disha, a US citizen born to Indian immigrant parents, said, relishing a plate of Kesar.
"This is the yummiest of the mangoes I have ever had," said Andrew, who is touring the US to watch the World Cup football.
The 'Taste the Tropical Magic' event has been an annual affair in the Washington summer calendar for the past several years and has grown bigger every passing year.
"It's not just a slice of mango or a slice of India, but the flavours of India that are on offer here," Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to the US, said here.
Last year, the Embassy put up one tasting booth, which drew massive crowds, prompting a much scaled-up event on Saturday.
Mango aficionados queued up at the five tasting booths set up in the Dupont Circle that offered not just mangoes, but also tastings of lassi, succulent biryani, mango halwa and Indian tea and coffee.
Over 8,000 people had signed up to attend the event, and the queues were endless even as the event drew to a close after about three hours.
Kwatra said, given the response to the tasting event, the embassy was planning to host food promotion events more frequently.
"Mango is a delicate fruit, and we have been able to manage superfast logistics to ensure that the Indian diaspora in the US gets the best value for their money," Kaushal Khakar, CEO of Kay Bee Exports, said.
Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Promotion Authority (APEDA) Chairman Abhishek Dev said the export of mangoes to the US has been increasing.
"Last year, we exported 2300 tonnes of mangoes to the US. This year, we surpassed that figure a month back," Dev said.
The story of Indian mangoes in the US dates back to 2006, when then US President George W Bush cleared the way for shipping the fruit to American shores-news welcomed as enthusiastically as the marquee announcement of working toward the India-US civil nuclear deal.
The US had banned mango imports from India due to the presence of the mango seed weevil, a pest absent in North America.
A solution emerged in January 2006, when the Agriculture Department allowed the import of produce treated with low doses of irradiation.
The first batch of Indian Alphonso mangoes was received with great enthusiasm and presented to the then-US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
