Indian mangoes arrive at long last

Last March, President George W. Bush signed two landmark pacts with India: one on nuclear technology, the other lifting a 17-year restriction on the import of Indian mangoes. The world's news media paid attention to the nuclear accord. But in the Indian community here and throughout the country, the magic word was "mango."

The mango is used widely in South Asian cuisine, for everything from mango lassi (a drink made with yogurt) to curries and chutneys. In India, it's not uncommon for families to have mango trees in their yards. But until now, Indians here had been forced to make do with what they consider a pale imitation of the fruit that flavored their childhoods.

Now, with the lifting of the ban, Waltham shopkeepers say, the mangoes are flying off the shelves. There are five grocery stores on Moody Street catering to local Indians, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans.

"It's much different," said Altaf Dugla, the manager of Moody Street's New Apna Bazar. "When you try this mango versus another mango, it's clear, the difference. You just have to try. "

Although India is the world's largest mango grower, producing more than half of the world's supply, Indian mangoes had been barred from the United States since 1990.

There was no way to both preserve the fruit's freshness and ensure that two pests -- the mango seed weevil and the mango pulp weevil -- didn't hitch a ride on incoming shipments.

That began to change in 2002, when a procedure known as irradiation was approved as a pest control method by the U S Department of Agriculture for imported produce. But it wasn't until January of last year that the department determined the minimum dose needed to kill the weevils, along with bacteria, fungi, and other pests. Bush's agreement followed, and the first shipments of Indian mangoes arrived April 27.

Melissa O'Dell, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency estimates that about 1,000 boxes per day are now entering the country.

Domestically, mangoes are grown in just three states -- Hawaii, Florida, and California. Production is limited because most of the United States lacks either the climate or the space to grow the trees, according to O'Dell. The majority of mangoes sold here are imported from Mexico, a country that only produces 5 percent of the world's supply.

The Indian Embassy's Minister of Commerce, Banashri Bose Harrison, said she was confident that -- with the ban lifted -- the "unique taste and flavor" of the Indian fruits would result in more American mango devotees. Indian farmers cultivate more than 1,000 varieties of the fruit, but two of the most popular are the Kesar and the Alphonso.

"With their entry into the US market, another step has been taken in the direction of ensuring that the Indian farmers reap the benefits of globalization," Harrison said in a statement to the Globe.

Swetal Patel, who runs the distribution arm of Indian-American grocery chain Patel Brothers, said the company had so far distributed between 10,000 and 12,000 cases of Indian mangoes to its stores -- including its location on Moody Street. The fruits are shipped by air, an expensive method, he said.

"The costs are ridiculous for that," he said by phone. "But we're hoping by next year, when we get all our I's dotted and T's crossed, we'll get them brought in by boat and have them still have enough shelf life. That will bring the cost down considerably. It was just too late this year."

Patel struggled to verbalize what made the fruits so special.

"The aroma. There's not much fiber content in it, so when you cut them they just cut silky smooth. And the taste, the taste is just different altogether," said Patel.

But how is the taste different?

"Wow," Patel sighed. "There is no way to describe the Alphonso or Kesar mango."

To get an idea of what is so special, Globe reporters bought Indian mangoes for a taste test. One returned from Moody Street with a case of Kesar mangoes from Patel Brothers ($30 for a box of 12 ; the store only sells them by the case) still labeled with Alitalia air cargo stickers. A single Kesar bought at the nearby New Apna Bazar ( $3) was sampled the night before by another reporter, who just couldn't wait.

The Kesar mango has a smooth, almost creamy flesh and is sweet but not cloyingly so. It seems juicier than the mangoes from Mexico and Haiti chosen for comparison. Soft enough to eat with a spoon, it is much less fibrous than the mangoes commonly found in supermarkets. The Kesar is shaped like an oval, with exterior hue that melts from a limey green into the muted reds and yellows one might see in a sunset.

Dugla, who prefers the Alphonso variety, quickly sold his first 450 boxes of Kesar mangoes. He picked up a 450-box shipment of both varieties at Logan International Airport Sunday. That shipment came from his home state of Gujarat in India. Some of the boxes had been sold even before the shipment arrived.