Thursday, June 04, 2009

"nungu, nungu"



nungu is a very unique fruit.it is the kernel of the palmyra tree.the nungus are cream coloured and are heart shaped. each fruit has one or two kernels in it. whether it is mumbai or kolkata or titilagarh in orissa,i found roadside vendors stacking up these almost black looking fruits during this hot summer season. and they were getting sold like hot cakes.
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though many eat the nungu with the fibre, most peel off the skin and eat it with relish without biting it into pieces but by putting the whole nungu in the mouth and gradually sucking it . you get a lovely feeling when it travels down your mouth.it tastes like sweet white jelly. some like to add some chaat masala while others prefer to put a dash of sugar and cardamom powder on it. I like it plain.

from a nutrition point of view,the fruit is terrific. it has a high content of phosphorous and calcium and hardly any fat.

when we were young we would visit our grandma(paatti) living in a village near villupuram every year during the summer vacation. every afternoon during our stay which would be for about a month,she would select soft nungus from the seller who used to enter the village shouting “nungu,nungu” at the top of his voice. we would rush to our paatti and inform her that the nungu vendor had arrived. she would then tie up small change in her sari and come out of the main entrance door and bargain with the nunguwalla and get us the best nungus for the best price.my brothers,sister and myself woud rejoice once the purchase was made.paatt would then place them in a plate and gradually skn off the top creamy coloured layer. voila,the fruit was then ready to be gobbled up!

the shelf life of nungus is very poor.the taste is best when it is just taken out, have nungus in plenty and beat the heat.don't postpone your buying decision as the monsson is around the corner.

if you have any suggestions of how this delicious fruit can be used to prepare something very tasty,do send me your comments.

14 comments:

Vivek said...

Getting to eat nongu used to be one of the big attractions of visiting my grandparents in a village near kumbakonam during summer holidays. Patti's wonderful poricha kozhambu, and various masiyals would go waste as we'd eat nongu and "vazhukkai" and fresh elaneer for breakfast lunch and tiffin! Also, I dont think there is a better heat buster than "padaneer" or neera as it is called elsewhere. The first sip always tastes odd, but the sweet aftertaste would linger on for the next 20 minutes. I remember the tamilnadu small industries corporation sold them in 200 ml pouches till a decade ago. Wonder if they are still around.

gs said...

hi vivek
i don't know about tsic,but here in mumbai neera is a popular drink.you get them in pouches too.it is a bit of a cultivated taste.

mannab said...

We, in Maharashtra call these nungus as Tadgole, fruits from Tad tree. But my grandson, recently arrived from USA, did not favour. Thanks a lot for my delicious fruit available only this time in Mumbai. How about jackfruit and karavande? They are in demand at the time of vat pournima to all Maharashtrian ladies.
Mangesh Nabar

gs said...

hello mannab
a friend of mine who has a farm in pune sent me a large jackfruit a couple of days back. i like it very much and have it with honey.but then my wife dissuaded me from having it as it was fibrous and could cause severe stomach pains.i am looking for a non-fibrous jackfruit.

mannab said...

hi gs!
jackfruit if eaten with coconut, will never create any stomach problem.
Mangesh

Unknown said...

Hi Gopal,
You can prepare some custard wth milk and at last add few nungus cut in to small pieces and keep it in the fridge for a while.recently i saw this in a tv program !!!

mannab said...

Dear gs,
I never knew you are Gopal. Since we don't know each other personally, we miss some close names and friendship. Please permit me to call you as Gopal. Regards.
Mangesh Nabar

gs said...

hello mannab
thanks for the tips for having tadgole.and you are most welcome to call me by my first name gopal.

gs said...

hi jayanthi
what a surprise to see you commenting in my blog.i'll ask gb to try your suggestion when i get some nungus next time.many thanks.

Anonymous said...

Nungu makes everyone happy to eat god's greatgift

gs said...

Hi Anonymous
I am in Chennai today. Temperature her is about 40 deg C. Nothing would be more welcome than nungus!
Thanks for looking in.

SIVAKUMARAVEL said...

Hi this is sivakumar. I like to open nungu and pathaneer stalls all over chennai and I can make nungu and pathaneer available all over the year.So please any one direct me the places where the demand for nungu is high. Or direct me to any organic food distributors.Thank you,my contact no.. 9944881698 and email Siva shogun a gmail.com

SIVAKUMARAVEL said...

Hi this is sivakumar. I like to open nungu and pathaneer stalls all over chennai and I can make nungu and pathaneer available all over the year.So please any one direct me the places where the demand for nungu is high. Or direct me to any organic food distributors.Thank you,my contact no.. 9944881698 and email Siva shogun a gmail.com

gs said...

hello siva mohankumar
i don't think i can really help you on this. one thing that i certainly do know is that there is a lot of craving for nungu from urbanites in tamil nadu and particularly from chennai. you should study how pathaneer is being marketed in chennai because you might be able to draw useful lessons. you could also contact some big malls/food courts and try to gauge the demand.
gopal