One of the true joys of the summer is eating Nungu நுங்கு – Ice Apple. It comes from the Palmyra Palm. Palm tree is the official tree of Tamilnadu. Its even called as the celestial tree or karpaga Viruksham. All the parts of the tree is used in some way or the other. The Palmyra fruit is black in colour and the outer portion is carefully cut to reveal the 3 jelly pockets inside. Rarely they may have two or even one pocket. The jelly part is covered with a yellow skin and when carefully removed, the delicious fleshy jelly is revealed and its filled with palmyra juice. Its one of the most eagerly waited fruits to enjoy every summer.
Here is a video of how Palmyra is harvested.
I had nongu served this way in a friend’s place in Trichy and ever since I have been eating it that way: Cut nongu into big chunks. Boil milk, add sugar and a pinch of cardamom powder. Chill the milk in fridge. When chilled, add the nongu and serve.
I am not a fan of Mangoes [the other summer fruit which everyone raves over]. But I love Nungu and I am home in an another couple of weeks so you couldn’t have picked a better time to remind me. YAYYYYY 😀