Botanical name: Garcinia indica
Family Name: Clusiaceae
Description:
Kokkam is a slender evergreen small tree with drooping branches. It is a dioecious tree growing up to 18 mtr high. The fruit is spherical, purple, not grooved having 5-8 seeds compressed in an acid pulp.
Uses:
The ripened, rind and juice of Kokkam fruit are commonly used in cooking. The dried and salted rind is used as a condiment in curries. It is also used as a garnish to give an acid flavour to curries and for preparing attractive, red, pleasant flavoured cooling syrup. Kokkam butter used as an edible fat, is nutritive, demulcent and antiseptic. The rind has antioxidant property.
You can buy it from any Indian grocery shop or cash and carry…
Sapodilla/Sapota (chickoo) ::
Sapodilla fruit or the chickoo is an oval fruit with a rough brown skin and looks like a potato. The golden honey-orange coloured flesh has an aromatic flavour of vanilla and banana. Scoop out the shiny black seeds from its center and eat the fruit as it is or turn it into a delectable milk shake with cardamom seeds for added flavour.
you got it right… boiled dark potatoes and kiwi without hair…yeah they do smell and taste like vanilla/banana ish… milkshake and icecream tastes yummy…
I am sure you will love kokum aloo… my wife is very fussy about food… especially anything that is new… she tasted kokum first time and she loved these potatoes
Culinary Uses**
Kokum has the same souring qualities as tamarind, especially enhancing coconut-based curries or vegetable dishes like potatoes, okra or lentils. Kokum is especially used with fish curries, three or four skins being enough to season an average dish. It is also included in chutneys and pickles. The skins are not usually chopped but are added whole to the dish. Seasoning should be checked as they are quite salty. Beware of biting on a stone as a few are often left in the skins.
Laizy - the canned “chikoos” don’t taste as good as the fresh ones. unfortunately we don’t get fresh chikoos around here. The canned ones become hard and get a totally different taste due to the preservatives that are added to them.
Uncle … Joote hai… aa jaao ghar par… taaze milege…
and i have never tasted the canned chickoos so cant say anything…
nahee mai khudh kuch bana laita hon, tum naashtai mai kiya khao gai verna. 