Mumbai’s 5 Weirdest Fruits

1. Mumbai’s 5 Weirdest Fruits 1. Karonda (karvanda): India's answer to cranberries. These pinkish-white fruits with a few tiny seeds in the center have a sour taste. The flesh is firm with a crisp bite when the fruit is raw. It is also filled with a sticky white fluid which stains like nobody’s business.  Biting into a Karonda, you will experience a strange, dry astringent-like feeling in the mouth. Although it definitely tastes weird, it’s really fun to eat with a little sea salt sprinkled on. The raw berries are commonly used for pickling. When ripe they turn purple and soft with a tart, juicy interior.

2. 2. Star fruit: Also known as Carambola, this fruit has a waxy skin and a green to golden yellow color. As the fruit ripens, the color becomes distinctly yellow, while the ribs turn slightly brown. All you have to do is slice them crosswise, and you have a terrific looking star-shaped piece of fruit that makes for an excellent garnish.  With a flavor that ranges from tart to mildly sweet, star fruits are best eaten when sliced and sprinkled with a mixture of salt and chili powder, just like the way it is served on the street carts near Juhu beach. They also lend themselves beautifully to a tropical fruit jam paired with pineapple or pomegranate.

3. 3. Wood apple (kabit, kavat, bel fruit): As the name suggests, wood apples have a woody exterior that you need to break open with a pestle or hammer. Inside, you will find a sticky, fibrous pulp, speckled with hundreds of edible seeds. Its taste ranges from very tart to sweet-and-sour when fully ripe. Commonly eaten with a little jaggery to temper the acidity, but if you’re not up for eating the fruit as is, you could make a jam, chutney or sherbet from the pulp. To make a quick drink, blend the pulp with some jaggery and water or coconut milk. Strain it, mix it, and drink up.

4. 9. Chanya Manya bor (jhar-beri): From the same family as the ber, these berries are available fresh as well as dried. They are large pea-sized, brick red berries that are typically sold in small cones by the street-side vendor. The dried variety can be eaten as is, or can be refreshed by soaking in water for a few minutes. Of late, the cottage industry is making these popular in the form of concentrates that can be diluted with water for a refreshing drink.

5. 11. Pink Guava (peru, amrood):  Flavor-wise, it's just like the regular white guava, but it's much prettier! The vendors will almost always cut them up in a zigzag fashion across the center to entice customers. The fruit has a firm, dark green skin that lightens and softens as it ripens. The skin is thin and edible, while the interior is pulpy and dotted with tiny edible seeds. Yummy when cut up and sprinkled with a little rock salt and chili powder.