All About the Manila Tamarind

All About the Manila Tamarind

All About the Manila Tamarind

Camachile’s many names are more interesting than the fruit’s bland taste: devil’s necklace, monkey earrings, monkey pod and black bead are just a few. Indians know this fruit as a “Manila tamarind” despite having no relation to the well-known, molasses-colored tamarind. With no roots in Madras/Chennai, its other name, “Madras thorn,” is also a misnomer.

Origin

Camachile is native to the tropics of Southern Mexico, South America and Central America.  According to the book, “Florida Ethnobotany,” botanists thought India was camachile’s native land based on reports sent by Europeans exploring India’s coasts in 1705. In the reports, they describe several sightings of the bizarre, twisted fruits. Earlier records from 1650, however, revealed that the Spaniards brought the fruits from the New World to the Philippines. From the Philippines, the fruits spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia.

Countries growing camachile trees include Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Guyana, Colombia, Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guam, Virgin Islands, Dutch Antilles, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Florida and Hawaii in the United States.

In Asia, camachile is exotic, growing in Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, China, the Philippines Indonesia and India. African countries growing camachile include Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. Though uncommon, they’re found in a few Middle Eastern counties like Qatar.

The Philippines and Indonesia are the only countries selling camachiles in the market—In Hawaii, the fruit’s an invasive species, and Peru’s only use for the tree is to make charcoal.

Availability of Camachile in India

In tropical conditions at an elevation below 300 meters, camachiles grow like weeds. The durable tree can withstand poor nutrient soil, saline, and rocky terrain.

In India, camachiles grow wild throughout Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi. Few, if any, farmers grow the trees commercially. Instead, they’re found growing as a hedge tree or as road shrubbery.

Manila tamarinds bear fruit from February through March, but may continue until May.

Where to find Manila Tamarind in India

Most manila tamarind trees are stumbled upon while driving along tree-lined roads and through small villages. Perhaps a vendor will be selling bags of them along the highway, gathered from his farmhouse behind him. Or, village locals will be purveying them to schoolchildren after exploiting the nearby trees.

Older generations of the South are most familiar with the fruits. Those growing up in Mittur or the Chittoor district, for example, have fond childhood memories of peeling back camachiles and eating their papery flesh as a snack. Such recollections are lost on the younger, urban generation.

Checking for Ripeness in Manila Tamarind

Unripe Manila tamarinds are greenish white. When ready for picking, their skin becomes pinkish gold. Do not think that the fruit has spoiled on the tree when the white flesh peeks out from its flimsy shell. This is, in fact, a sign that it’s ready to eat.

The flesh of some fruits are pinkish red, while others are snow white.

Taste of Camachile

As a wild fruit with no serious commercial cultivation efforts, manila tamarind’s flavor varies considerably. All possess a sweet, musky acidic taste that resembles desiccated coconut meat. Some people detect astringent and metallic notes. Of the two types of fruit, the red-fleshed variants are sweeter, whereas the white fruits may cause mild throat irritation.

Camachile’s texture is chewy, doughy, slightly papery and mildly grainy, with a flesh that dissolves on the tongue. Like the tamarind, the fruits have large, shiny black seeds surrounding the flesh. These are not edible, and must be spit out.

Nutritional Value in Manila Tamarind

From Purdue University’s horticulture department, the nutritional value of a manila tamarind is, per 100g:

78 kcal

The composition of the fruit is:

77.8% water

3% protein

.4% fat

18.2% carb

1.2% fiber

.6% ash

13 mg calcium (1.3% RDI)

42mg phosphorous (4.2% RDI)

.5mg iron (2.7% RDI)

19mg sodium

222mg potassium (6.3% RDI)

15mg vitamin A

.24mg thiamin/B1 (16.6% RDI)

.10mg riboflavin/B2 (5.8% RDI)

.60mg niacin/B6 (3% RDI)

133mg vitamin C (221% RDI)

Health Benefits of Manila Tamarind

Natives use camachiles in a number of traditional remedies: a concoction of the fruit and astringent bark treat ailments ranging from bronchitis, diarrhea, hemorrhages, sores, liver problems and spleen issues. In Eastern Nepal, parts of the camachile treat fever, the stem combats dysentery, and the leaves help with intestinal disorders. The Spaniards initially assumed that camachiles were beneficial for the liver: they extrapolated that the seeds represent the liver itself, and the white aril surrounding the flesh symbolized the liver’s fat. No studies support this theory. According to the book, “Huastec Mayan Ethnobotany,” the Huastec Indians of Mexico’s San Luis Potosi used parts of the tree to manage toothaches, sore gums and mouth ulcers. 

--Manila tamarinds are exceptionally high in vitamin C, which bolsters the immune system, staves off strokes and reduces phlegm. It’s also full of cancer-fighting antioxidants

--Its high thiamine content helps the body convert sugars into energy, which impacts the mood: greater conversion helps stabilize stress levels.

--According to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, camachile fruit extracts exhibited stronganti-ulcer activity comparable to the standard drug, omeprazole.

--A 2011 study published in the Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that fruit extractsprotected the liver from oxidative stress.

--Researchers found potential in the camachile’s antioxidants’ ability to fight off liver disease (hepatic oxidative dysfunction, to be specific).

--A 2012 study published in Natural Product Research indicates that camachiles are non-toxic and safe for consumption despite the occasional minor throat irritation.

How to open/cut

Like tamarinds, camachiles require peeling off the thin exterior and eating the flesh surrounding the large black seed. Unlike the tamarind, though, camachiles have a soft skin that can be peeled like a green bean’s.

Because it’s laborious to de-seed camachiles, many eat the fruit out-of-hand.

Storing Manila Tamarind

Fresh camachile is highly perishable, and the white aril will quickly brown once peeled. At room temperature, the fruits keep for three to four days.

Manila Tamarind Recipe Ideas

--In North Mexico, locals make a lemonade-type beverage by de-seed the fruit, blending the arils with water, and straining through a sieve. Sugar is added as necessary, and it’s possible to add orange juice, ginger, lemon juice, mint, or coconut water for a boost in flavor.

--Roast the black seeds surrounding aril. Once cooled, remove the shiny black layer to expose the edible seed. Add these seeds into curries and stir fries, as is common in rural areas of southern India.

--Create a paste for sauces, soups and stews: mix the pounded camachile pulp with jaggery, water, salt, and a dash of chili powder.

--Make a stir fry by adding the paste above to sautéed tofu and vegetables.

Flavor Complements

Fruits: Coconut, lemon, orange, sour orange, lime, coconut, baobab, monstera, pomegranate, soursop, sweet lime, wood apple

Herbs, spices, and oil: Sugar, shredded coconut, orange juice, lemon juice, ginger, mint, coconut water, jaggery, water, salt, chili powder, cocoa

Random fact

In the South of India, brick kiln workers use camachile branches as fuel. A 2007 study published in “Small Ruminant Research” also advises farmers in nutrient-poor land to let livestock graze on camachile as a good source of calories and protein.

Camachiles are the most recognizable fruits in the Pithellobium group. However, djenkol beans (Pithecellobium lobatum)are the black sheep of the genus. A number of studies have been published with regards to the djenkol beans’ poisonous chemicals. Despite the risks, they are still a popular ingredient amongst the natives of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Source from:  http://theindianvegan.blogspot.com/

4:38 AM   by Oun Sam An ·   0

Palm fruit:

Palm fruit:

Ice apple or nungu

 

•  Palm fruit which is also called Palmyra fruit or Ice -Apple, known as Tari in Hindi, Nungu in Tamil and Thati munjalu in Telugu.
• This fruit is sweet in taste and looks transparent jelly like thing. Its also fermented to  make Toddy called kallu .
• Palm trees which are grown bulky especially in India , Indonesia,Malaysia, Nepal,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Africa.
•  Its scientific name is  Barassus Flabellifer.
• In the states like Tamil Nadu , Andhra Pradesh and some places the seeds are allowed to germinate and  forms   stems like structure,which are called as Palm sprouts called as Gagulu or Panai Kezhingu is eaten raw or either boiled or roasted.
•  And if the fruit is fully ripened then the outer yellow layer is eaten and used in preparing varieties of recipes.

 Health Benefits:

• Palm fruits are very healthy and it has been all around from many years.
• Palm fruits contain jelly like substance which is called Ice apple can be eaten or drink which is made out of it is taken as a  cool  drink during summer seasons.
•  It gives instant energy as it contains Vitamin C and Vitamin B – complex
• The fruit pulp is used to cure many skin inflammatory conditions
•  The sap which is collected from the tree is used as tonic and laxative to cure liver diseases and ulcers.
•  When this sap is fermented it becomes a crazy drink called kallu(alcohol)
• The sap is also used to cure anemia, improves digestion and good for appetite.

Recipes made with Palm fruit:

 

steps to prepare Rose Milk Ice Apple:

• Boil thick milk in a vessel and cool it in a refrigerator for 1-2 hours
• Peel the Ice Apple (nungu) and cut into  peaces
• after 2 hours mix rose syrup to the milk and add sugar and blend it for  2 minutes
• and then finally add nungu and serve it chilled

nongu paal

Source from: http://www.cravebits.com/

4:34 AM   by Oun Sam An ·   0

Sugar palm tree - National Khmer icon

Sugar palm tree - National Khmer icon

The sugar palm tree - 'skor t'not' (Borassus flabellifer) is one of Cambodia's national icons. It is found throughout Cambodia and plays a very important role in providing a source of income for many Khmer as well as providing material for many home uses. It is a multi-purpose tree - every part of the tree is used for something - and often parts have many uses. 

Khmer use the timber for construction (houses, boats - dug out canoes), cooking and eating implements (chopsticks, spoons, forks, bowls, cups and plates), the leaves are used for many purposes (thatch for roof and walls, mats, baskets, fans and hats), branches are used for fencing and to make thongs/flip flops and juice and fruit are harvested and eaten and used for many things. Indeed the sharp edges of the fronds were also used by the Khmer Rouge to cut the throats of other Khmer

Palm juice is collected from both the male and female flowers. The male flowers will produce for 3 months but the female flowers will provide juice for up to six months. Some Khmer farmers can even harvest the juice all year round but common collection times are from November to March. If one looks carefully you will often see rickety bamboo ladders fixed to the trees. Bamboo containers are left in the tree and each morning, the juice collector will climb the tree to collect the juice that has been collecting overnight. The containers are then strung over one's shoulder or fixed to a bicycle and the collector becomes a travelling salesperson going to villages until all the juice has been sold. On average, 5 litres of juice can be collected daily which is a reliable source of income for those collecting and selling the juice. The juice can also be boiled to make palm sugar. The sugar is boiled, condenses and round, brown tablets are made which are used in Khmer cooking. Palm sugar, seen throughout markets everywhere is often added to food to give a sweet taste
Juice can only be harvested after about 15 years of maturity but it depends on the soil type. They are said to be able to produce juice for about 55 years

Fruit is also harvested once the flowers stop producing juice. These can be seen for sale along the side of the road during the first half of the year. The fruits can be eaten fresh or preserved. Some farmers feed part of the fruit to animals

The leaves are harvested to be woven into thatch. Many houses have a thatched roof and some houses even use it as walls for their house. Mats, fans and baskets are also made with leaves and are very practical as well as appealing. Leaves are only harvested after juice collection is complete otherwise juice is not plentiful

The hard and heavy timber (trunk and branches) can be used for housing, furniture, dug out canoes and various cooking implements. Many guests will see these items however sugar palm timber is often mistaken as coconut timber. Plates, cups, chopsticks and other cooking items are very attractive with the timber having various colours or brown and white scattered throughout the timber

Fronds are often seen as fencing around houses and are a cheap way for farmers to keep animals out of their gardens

The base of the frond (where it meets the trunk) was used during the Khmer Rouge regime to make shoes - a type of thong/flip flop due to its thickness and strength. It is also used as a kind ofshovel due to its natural curve which is able to collect dirt. The edges of the fronds are serrated and during Pol Pot's time, they were often used as a saw - torturing people by cutting their throats. Thankfully these days, they are no longer used for this purpose

These palm trees are seen all over Cambodia and for many Khmer, represent the 'real' Cambodia. They look picturesque particularly during the early wet season as they stand among emerald green rice fields

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Source from: http://www.cambodiauncovered.com/

4:28 AM   by Oun Sam An ·   0

Posts Tagged With: tropical fruit The Milk Fruit – Plei Tuek Doh Ko in Khmer

Here’s another strange fruit that I came across here for the first time in my life. The milk fruit in English, ‘plei teuk doh ko’ in Khmer. The fruit flesh around the seeds is jelly like. It’s got a sweet taste to it. Although the first time I tried it, it wasn’t even sweet. It was just strange with no particularly exciting flavour (to my disappointment). The second time the fruit was slightly sweet as my partner explained – sometimes they are sweet and sometimes not!! They are the size of an apple and have hard black seeds. When you cut them a whitish liquid oozes out that looks like milk-hence the name in Khmer which means milk fruit -actually it’s ‘fruit of water from the tits of a cow’ to be exact with the translation! Tits of a cow would of course be udder in English. It’s the same word for cow’s and women’s breasts in Khmer (but not for cows and women……I’d like to add….heheh…..!!

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Categories: Cambodia, Fruit, Uncategorized | Tags: asian fruit, food, milk fruit, strange cambodian fruit,tropical fruit, water from the tits of cow fruit | Leave a comment

Unknown Stunningly Beautiful Small Red Thai Fruit – Sa’ree in Khmer

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Nurul

Here’s an amazing looking fruit that I picked up on the Thai side of the Poipet border coming back from Bangkok. They are the size of cherries and taste nothing like them. In fact cherries taste mush better (if they’re not pumped full of chemicals) in my opinion. But these look just astounding!!

They are called Sa’ree in Khmer. Haven’t a clue in English. They are juicy with a bit of crunch, have a hint of sweet and a hint of sour. I ate them with the traditional salt and chilli mix you get with all sour fruits here. In fact I was rather disappointed with the taste. I expected something much more spectacular because of it’s beauty!!

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Categories: Cambodia, Fruit, Uncategorized | Tags: cambodia, food, fruit, sour fruit, strange fruit, thailand,tropical fruit | 11 Comments

Fruity Fetishes continued: The Custard Apple (Thee’up in Khmer)

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Nurul

So, my blogging posts have become sparse whilst my life hasn’t really become busier, but my mind is somewhat pre-occupied with the events of my life. And there is one shocking event from the past week that has left me almost speechless and very angry. I will write a post about this in the near future once I have digested this real life happening! – Click here to read more as I’ve posted about this event now!!

Now back to the my beloved fruits of Asia!! I’m not a fan of custard because we were forced to eat it in primary school (in London of course-for those of you who haven’t read the ‘about me’ section of my blog, I didn’t grow up in Bangladesh!) And I eat the occasional apple but also a pretty boring fruit in my world. So how about the custard apple (thee’up in Khmer). Nothing like custard or apples (haha!) It looks very similar to a cherimoya (and tastes the same to my taste buds) that I’ve ate many times back in Europe. I’ve just done some online research and they are from the same family. Some say they are the same fruit with a different name but the cherimoya has different skin to the custard apple from my experience. A cherimoya has skin that surrounds the flesh in one piece. When you cut it the skin stays in one piece. This description may be a bit strange but I don’t know how else to word it. The custard apple has skin that is thick and comes off in segments. You can see the segments in the pictures below. The taste is extremely sweet and the texture creamy and slightly grainy. I love this fruit. Easy to eat-meaning easy to peel with your bare hands and actually quite filling as a fruit. The fruit flesh comes in segments too surrounding a hard black seed. They are the size of a medium sized apple.

You can see below the the skin and fruit flesh segments coming apart with ease!!

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Source from: https://nurulsculinaryadventures.wordpress.com/

4:18 AM   by Oun Sam An ·   0

Wood Apple Fruit

Wood apple is a fruit tree of tropical area which has been known as a fruit contains antiseptic properties and high nutrition value. However, there are less researches have been conducted on wood apple fruit.

It’s said wood apple is native in the wild of India and Ceylon but it’s now grown throughout countries of Southeast Asia. In Cambodia, wood apple grown throughout the country. People just plant one or two trees near their house, in their farm and forget about it, until the trees start bearing fruits.
Wood Apple has got scientific name as Limonia acidissima L. and its other names are elephant apple, monkey fruit, curd fruit, Koth Bell (India). In Khmer wood apple is called Khvet (ខ្វិត).

young wood apple opened up, one fruit cost 500 Riels = USD 0.12. These are fruits after soaked in water. The rind are no more look green.

Wood apple is a slow growing tree which starts bearing fruit after 6-7 years planted. Its branches are upward reaching and there are sharp spines of about 2-5 cm long. The tree trunk is cover with ridged bark. Leaves are dark green and pinnate with 5-7 leaflets, they have slight smell of lemon. Flowers are small with greenish outer and dull-red inner. Fruits are ball-like round, they could be from 7- 9 cm in diameter which cover by a hard grayish-white, woody thick rind. The inside of the fruit are edible. Its pulp is light brown and turn to be dark brown when it’s ripe. It’s odorous with sweet and sour tastes. Seeds are white and small mixed inside the pulp.

Wood apple in Cambodia

ripe wood apple fruits

The season of wood apple in Cambodia is between November to January, however, wood apple is still available all year round. Young wood apple (before mature) is more popular for Cambodians than ripe fruit. The young fruit after take out the rind, are sliced into pieces and kneaded with salt, sugar, and chilly. It’s the same way of kneading green mango. But the pulp of young wood apple fruit is somehow bitter (as the taste of an unripe guava or even stronger). So after harvest, the young wood apple fruit is soaked in water for one day to decrease bitter taste, if not it might be hard to swallow.

ripe wood apple fruits opened up

The ripe fruits are usually kept to fall off from the tree. When the fruits are ripe, they attract people by its aroma. Ripe fruit is eating with sugar or without sugar if you like more sour taste. Use spoon to take out the pulp, put into your mouth, start chewing, you will feel a mixture of flavor in which some sweet, some sour, sticky pulp and crispy seeds. Especially its aroma, these all made wood apple become a unique fruit.

How to break up wood apple fruit

Because of the rind are hard, to break up, grabbing the fruit and throw it onto the hard surface, by this we will not need to use a hammer.

Young wood apple with salt, sugar and chilly eating as fruit snack in Cambodia

There is another way to remove the rind of wood apple by using a large wood stick hit around the fruit to break the rind into small pieces, then use a sharp-pointed knife to remove each small piece of the rind out.
Ripe fruits are easier to break up, just hit the fruit into hard surface, maybe the floor.

Cambodia people usually make a joke to someone who has no job by saying to offer them a job and when the person asks what the job is, the answer will be: need your forehead as a tool for breaking up wood apple fruit.

Source from: http://www.cambodia-picturetour.com/

4:12 AM   by Oun Sam An ·   1