Karmbala~Starfruit.

** 'Starfruit' also known as 'Carambola' or 'Karmbala' as in Konkani my mother tongue is a star shaped tropical fruit available almost all round the year. It is also referred to as ‘Kamrakh’ in Hindi and Gujarati, ‘Ambanamkaya’ in Telugu, ‘Thambaratham’ in Tamil, ‘Kaparakshi Hannu’ in Kannada, ‘Chaturappuli’ in Malayalam, 'Karambal' in Marathi and Konkani, ‘Kamranga’ in Bengali. and ‘carambola’ in some parts of the world .....  

** It has a sweetish sour taste and is greenish in color with yellow tinge and turns yellow on being ripened. It has smooth and waxy surface and five angled fruit grown to bushy evergreen trees. The fruit when sliced horizontally resembles the shape of stars and I guess that is where the fruit derived its unusual name from. The fruit is popular throughout Asian countries and it available in plenty in Southern parts of India. 

** The fruit is a rich source of dietary fibers, Vitamin, Vitamin B2, vitamin B6, Vitamin B9 and minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, zinc, folic acid and iron. The entire fruit is edible and is close to taste in cross between pineapple and lemon. Star fruit is very close in taste resemblance to bimbli / tree sorrel or bimbul as called in Konkani and can be used in place of the same when preparing dishes. 

** The fruits when green and firm are tart in flavor and are used in cooking, pickling etc. while those that turn yellow and ripen are eaten as it is or prepared in juices etc. Both the sweet and the ripe variety when eaten with a dash of salt or chat masala tastes great and I have done so through my childhood. 

**The tart green variety is widely used in the southern parts in poultry, fish and seafood curries. When they are semi ripe they can be prepared into juices or cocktails and they taste great with a khatHa meetHa taste. You can also prepare Jams and sweet deserts from them. I have come across a new discovery that when they firm but ripe even wafers are prepared out of the same. 

** Health wise too they are very good and is believed to get rid of excess water from the body ie in case of Edema. They have medicinal properties and I believe the bark and roots of the tree are also used in the same. The fruit again is used for treatment of cough and bacterial infections. Chutney prepared using these fruits tastes great as well as gojjus. 

** I have not much memories of this fruit as unfortunately though we did have a tree in the backyard in my parents’ home, it was in the rough part of the land and we could not reach much there and due to lack of grooming it used to yield only 1 or 2 fruits in a year which I made an effort to remove from my neighbor wall. 

** But Dad, did bring the ripe ones home once in a way and we just made a concoction of spices with salt, dipped the fruit in it and relished its sweet tangy taste. I do not remember any other curry or pickle prepared out of it be in my family or my cousins too. Bimbli was much more famous in adapting to curries than star fruit. 

** I am very fond of this fruit and luckily, it is available in Mumbai many a times with fruit vendors. I have already added in a few recipes of the same and sure to add in more as and when I find them, as somehow they are not that frequently available and one has to be on the lookout for the same. 

** I have enclosed a picture of the star fruit and a collage of some of the dishes prepared and posted in the Blog. for reference to all. There are many more which you can find if you use the search label on the left side of the Blog page. Please go through the same for more dishes. 

** I will load more pictures of the ripe ones when I come across or you can even Google for the same. Do try out the various recipes included in the blog wherein I have used this wonderful star fruit and enjoy with your family and friends and reap in the health benefits.