It's lychee season, make the most of it

Here are fruits that languish on the kitchen counter or in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Boringly reliable and waiting obediently for their turn.

- NANDITA IYER

But the lychee arrives in style, like a summer fling—brief, heady and unapologetically juicy. It makes you question your loyalty to any other fruit. This one doesn't wait around. You either catch it when it's in season or you suffer the consequences. And no, tinned lychees aren't worth consideration. A pale imitation of its original sexy self, floating listlessly in sugar syrup. No, thank you.

The lychee season in India typically spans May to June, making this the perfect time to enjoy this luscious fruit. Living in Mumbai or Bengaluru, we often had to settle for subpar lychees. These stone fruits grow best in the northern belts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. If you're looking for the finest lychees in India, pick the ones from Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The district is famed for its premium shahi lychees, known for their generous size, juicy flesh and subtle rose-like fragrance. A few online platforms now do an excellent job of delivering these lychees under optimal conditions, so even those of us in southern India can savour them at their seasonal best.

Nutritionally, lychees offer a decent amount of vitamin C and antioxidants, but no one's calling them a superfood. And maybe that's a good thing. You don't need to justify eating them with a wellness angle. It's a distinctly flavoured seasonal fruit and that's a good enough reason to enjoy them.