“Kokum...kokum...kokum,
she said, but not a word about us!”
“Yes, not a word about us”...... “yes yes not a word about us”....a chorus of
voices muttering the same thing over and over again came from the store room.
I opened the door cautiously to see a whole procession of
Vatamba slices looking as though they were about to march out in protest. I
could see them all looking accusingly at me.
‘Now What?!!!!”
“You have an entire blog post devoted to Kokum!! And even one
for Bilimbi! What about us? We too
impart a tangy flavour that too without
ruining the colour(?) like kokum! And what about our medicinal properties?” ..... the chorus was growing louder.
“Okay okay shush! I
promise I shall wax eloquent over Vatamba” I said trying to quieten them.
Hubby called out from the other room “Whom are you talking
to?”
“No one .....in particular”
I replied........(Well you must agree that my answer was very truthful – I
wasn’t talking to any one of them in particular. Thankfully hubby did not
persist and quip back “No one in
particular?...Any one in general?”)
I quickly closed the store room door, it was silent again. I
heaved a sigh of relief. Was I dreaming? Sure hope I was. But then I had made a
promise, so here is my post on Vatamba. (Seriously I had no clue that they read
my blog!)
Vatamba - The botanical name of this relatively unheard
of fruit is Artocarpus Lakoocha. Also
known as Monkey Jack or locally called Kokum Phool by many. It imparts a tangy flavour and is used in
place of tamarind. It has anti-inflammatory properties and if one has been
asked to avoid tamarind in the diet, then this is the perfect replacement.
I had no idea how this fruit looked or tasted until I saw it
on the tree in our farm. Green, uneven
oddly shaped fruits hang at the tip of the branches of the huge trees.
We have 4 fruit bearing trees on our farm,
and quite a few young ones probably sprouted on their own from fallen seeds. Given
the fact that seed viability is very low, we sure are glad to have these young
trees on our farm, hoping that some day they too will grow into tall sturdy
giants like their parents.
Now about the fruit.
I have faint memories of my granny mentioning wistfully that if only one
could procure ‘Vatamba Sol’ and use it instead of tamarind, her arthritic pain would not have bothered
her as much. But back in Bombay then,
our regular grocer had not even heard the name.
The first year that we saw the fruit on the trees, our farm
hand explained to us that it needs to be sliced
and then dried in the sun. It is
a very hard fruit and cutting it takes as much effort as cutting a raw
jackfruit (kadgi).
Our farm hand had helped us cut most of it using a
traditional cutter known as an ‘Adlee’, while we used what we are most used to
- a cutting board and a knife. The cutting boards were thoroughly
discoloured by the time we were through.
And this was the harvest from the first tree.
Three more huge harvests
followed. The summer was at its peak and
the slices dried beautifully.
The next step was to remove the seeds from the slices. A systematic beating with a wooden mallet frees the seeds and then they can be shaken out and separated. The last and most important task is to soak the dried slices in salt water for a couple of hours and then sun dry it again. This makes them last the year through.
And how do we use these crisp beautiful slices? Use them in place of tamarind in your dishes. Put them in dal while cooking to make a delicious Sambar, add them to your Pulaos, Masale bhaat and Vaangi Bhaat. The Goans love it in their Fish Curry, the Sindhis love it in their Sindhi Kadhi and we Amchis love it in our Bendi and Ghashhi. And you can innovate and try it out in any other dishes.
Any one out there who loves this in some different unusual
recipe, I would love to hear from you!
