New Delhi, May 18 -- Every Maharashtrian worth his salt waits for the first hapus. And of course, the aamras that follows. My father and uncle still rewind to childhood summers when they were entrusted with making ras. Ripe mangoes had to be soaked in cool water, followed by serious work: squeezing the fruit, mashing the pulp, scraping every last bit from the skin, and vying to nibble at the fleshy koi (seed).

Years later, my cousins and I repeated the ritual in our ancestral home in Hubli, Karnataka. Different children, same sticky fingers, and the same urgency to grab the seed before someone else did. Aamras, neither dessert nor drink, is a seasonal event awaited in countless homes.

India's mango loyalties are famously regional. There...