"अमसुलाचे सार" (Wild /red mangosteen Soup)

“थोडा खट्टा-मीठा तीखा और नमकीन,
स्वाद के रंग से लम्होंको बनालो हसीन
यह पल रहे न रहे,यादें सदा रहेंगी रंगीन!”

(Enjoy every Spice of sweetness & salt with colourful memories to cherish for a lifetime!)

I Ain’t (hangover of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady,can’t help it guys!!)the one with the Sweet Tooth , eating sweet everyday is a little boring for me.Today,Vivek & Preity  are coming all the way from Colorado to celebrate Diwali with us for a week and I made this spicy,sweet & sour Soup of wild or raw mangosteen (अमसुल सार) over dinner.

Kokum-e-info

 

“कोकम/अमसुल” (wild/red mangosteen-available in powdered forms too,but its better to use the fruit) are one of the very popular ingredients in Indian food.The outer rind of the fruit is a very popular culinary ingredient in all Maharashtra and in particular Konkan. The fruits are beaten with sticks to separate the rind from seeds. The rind is repeatedly sun dried after soaking in the pulp juice.

People in the Kokan region (Maharashtra) and Southern India often add it in various delicacies (from cold-drinks to soups to vegetables & dips).Dried/Wet Kokum or Amsul is available at most Indian stores in the bay area.Sour in taste,it has medicinal qualities and is used as an anti-allergic.

Raw Mangosteen is called Murgala (Karnataka), Punampuli (Kerala), Murgal (Tamil Nadu) ,Kokum(Gujarat),Kokum/amsul/ratamba/birund (Maharashtra) & Tintali (Orissa).It is called Atyamala, Raktapurak, Vrikshamla,chukra or tintidika in Sanskrit.

Total Time=Cooking Time+Preparation Time

Ingredients

• 5-6 dried/wet Kokum-I used the wet ones.
• sugar or jaggery for sweetness
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp pure ghee/veg oil-I used ghee,the taste & flavour of pure ghee is unbeatable.
• 1/4 tsp coriander seeds,roasted & manually crushed.(my addition)
• freshly chopped coriander (my addition)
• 2 finely chopped green chilies (my addition)
• 1 muffin-full bowl of home-made or ready made  buttermilk (my addition).One could add coconut milk also.
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida (my addition)
• 2-3 curry leaves (my addition)
• 1 clove of garlic sliced finely
• 1/2 tsp of ginger,finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp of anardana powder

Boil It Up

Before going ahead,I took some warm water and crushed the kokum in it as Rasika Karve-Tilaye (my school senior & ardent obedient follower of CWM from Denver,Colorado)suggested for the “kairiche saar” recipe to soften the fruit.Then I added the softened kokum into the pot of   water.In sometime the colour of water changes to deep pink or red.I added jaggery and salt to the boiling water-kokum mixture.

I prepared a “tadka” using ghee ,asafoetida,green chilies when cumin seeds crackled.I added the coriander seed powder and curry leaves to this tadka.The book suggests that we must make the tadka,add water, kokum and other ingredients to it.I poured it over the boiled kokum mixture instead.I added the buttermilk & anardana powder into the “saar” for thickness and sourness.

In case,you guys follow the method mentioned in the book for tadka followed by kokum etc,then please do share the magnificent results  with me as well.

 

I let it boil for few seconds and piping hot Amsul Saar (garnished with coriander) was ready to get us intoxicated!

Hope,you guys enjoy this one as much as “Kairiche Saar”!