Which summer fruit is in your lunch dabba?

Delhi’s summer brings along with it the many fruits that add colour to our plate and palate. Think mango, melon, watermelon, phalsa, cherry — and the list goes on and on. From refreshing taste to offering umpteen health benefits, there’s so much to look forward when relishing the summer fruits. So much so that many make sure to make one of them or more as part of their lunch dabba. So we ask some popular Delhiites about their go-to choice when it comes to packing summer fruits in tiffin, and here’s what they have to say:

For author Kevin Missal, the fruit that wins hands down is phalsa. “I like having phalsa in summer. It’s tasty, tangy and energises you to go through the hard task of going through the entire day. And while I’m losing weight because of my marriage is approaching, I feel this fruit also works well as a quick snack,” he says.

For singer Shaheen Salmani, from Delhi-based sufi rock band Rocknama, the most tasty and thirst-quenching fruit is watermelon. She reveals she doesn’t step out of her house without it. “Whenever I carry fruit in my lunchbox, I keep watermelon that’s my all time favourite fruit. This is my go-to pick among all fruits. I really love to have watermelon in summers. It hydrates your body, has fibre and a natural sweetener. The best part is that it can be digested very easily. I really have fond memories of having watermelon because whenever we used to go out in summer, my parents used to feed me the fruit,” she reminisces.

For poet Pranav Misra, it’s the king of fruits, Mango that wins hands down. He says, “There’s a beautiful memory attached to this fruit. I remember, years ago, when we first planted 100 trees of alphonso mango in our farm. The eldest member of our family my great grandfather and the youngest member, my younger brother together planted the first plant. My great grandfather, my grandfather and father, everyone was present and involved in that process. Today, after having lost all of them to time, nothing tastes sweeter than a freshly plucked mango from my farm.”

Food blogger and baker Shivesh Bhatia, chooses mulberries as his fave for summer sojourn. “One of my favourite summer fruits is shahtoot. Besides, the yum taste I always look forward to is the short mulberry season because it brings back so many memories for me… We had shahtoot trees in my school and during the season, everyone would run to the garden during lunch time to get their hands on the ones that fall down. A lot of times we could also climb up the chairs to pluck the ones hanging from the trees. Besides mulberries, I also enjoy phalsa. The khatta phalsas with black salt or phalsa sharbat that my mum makes, are a treat in the heat!”

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