While enjoying a walk on a bright and cheerful morning, a small maroon fruit on a tree caught my
attention. I became very curious to know about it. I picked one from the ground and brought it home. It was a new thing for us so thought to search about it on the internet. Finally, my sister helped me out that the tree is known as Terminalia catappa also known as Indian Almond. This variety of tree has a vast natural distribution in near coastal areas of the Indian Ocean. The fruit of T. catappa is considered to be a vital foodstuff and every part of this plant is filled with some medicinal values. It was truly amazing to find out something so valuable in and around me! The fruit has a pleasant aroma. It is best to eat raw when is young and sour. The fibrous shell of the fruit surrounds an
edible nut. People mostly enjoy it here as a good snack freshly plucked from the trees grown
everywhere.
My mom got some handful of Indian almond fruit with her from the park and thought to prepare
something innovative out of it. The colour of the ripened fruits is so beautiful that she decided to
prepare jelly. Seriously, the jelly turned out an amazingly beautiful and delicious one. Here, I am
sharing this unique recipe...
Ingredients:
- Terminalia catappa - 500 gm
- Water - 1 litre
- Sugar - equivalent to the juice extracted from the boiled T. catappa
- Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
Method:
- Boil the T. Catappa in water till it reduces to half of it.
- Now, drain the water to another vessel separate from the fruit.
- Let the juice boil then add an equivalent portion of sugar into it.
- Stir occasionally.
- Add lemon juice to it and boil.
- Check the two strings formation on your fingertip with a drop of the juice. T. catappa jelly is ready to be served then.
