Kokum ✦

Kokum

What it is

A tree of the Western Ghats gives a purple fruit whose rind is sun-dried whole until it is nearly black and still pliable. Its sourness is hydroxycitric acid rather than the tartaric and citric acids of tamarind, which is why it lands clean and fruity where tamarind lands sweet.

In the kitchen

Two or three pieces per pot, dropped in whole and fished out at the end. Rinse the salt off first — the rind is usually salt-cured — and expect it to stain the sauce a deep pink-brown, so keep it for dishes where that colour belongs.

Goes with

Coconut milk Curry leaf Garlic Chili pepper Cumin Shrimp Turmeric Onion

Same species

Mangosteen

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