This is an Elephant Apple a very regular and liked food item with many health benefits used in our Assamese kitchens.Being from north i had never come across this fruit until i got married... since the time i first tasted it i fell in love with this one.It is called Ou tenga (pronounced O ,tenga means sour).Its outer covering is hard and you need to be very careful while cutting it as the inside pulp is slippery in nature.We consume it in cooked form when the fruit is not too young or too ripe.It is considered as a liver and heart tonic and anti diabetic....it is known to have a cooling effect on the body .After cutting it into small pieces(seeds are discarded ) we prefer to pressure cook it by adding some water to it....it is very acidic in nature.Once boiled some musturd seeds are spluttered in a wok or kadhahi and the boil mix is added ,later a pinch of turmeric and salt is added.....to make it more interesting fried fish can be added which is the most preferred choice out here.Its great specially if you are experiencing a very hot day .Tenga is served as the last dish (with the rice) i.e. once you are done with eating all the other items served.When kids are unwell and refuse to eat anything i always make this preparation because just one bite of tenga and rice mix is enough to stimulate their appetite.
I am only focusing the folk medicine culture in our food habits...if somebody is interested an expert advice is suggested.
tenga...hmmmm..another interesting post Dr..cheers and best wishes always..
ReplyDeleteHeard abt this Elephant Apple today!
ReplyDeleteHave never seen it!!
Is it found only in North East?? Thanks for enlightening!! :)
BTW, you have been tagged on my blog! :)
Acidic? Is it like lemons and limes? I am surprised you do not add sugar to it. Just the thought of it makes me salivate. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI am so enjoying all your most interesting posts!
ReplyDeleteAnd your pictures are fantastic!
Thanks so much, Kavita!
Margie:)
looking at the fruit makes me salivate hehehe...
ReplyDeleteTenga in our language (filipino) means ear..
oh, this is something new to me. Tanga in malayalam means Coconut. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI like it best if simply boiled with Dal.
ReplyDelete@ Shilpa
It is found in other parts of India as well. Sri Lanka, Malaysia,Pakistan, Nepal,Myanmar are other countries where it is found.
I've never heard of a Elephant Apple before..interesting! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky! I hardly get to see them... forget about tasting them though!
ReplyDeleteContinue to post such uncommon stuff please :)
After reading the first few lines, I thought you were talking about our 'vilaampazham', but the photo looked different. This is Ganesha's preferred fruit, it is said. But your fruit Ou Tenga is entirely different and interesting too.
ReplyDelete@RAMESH.....thank you,thanks for motivating me.
ReplyDelete@SHILPA...i too wonder if it is found in other places of India,well Pramathesh answered our question here in comment section.Thanks for the tag ,i will do it in coming week.
@PRAMATHESH...thanks a ton for your inputs.
@GIGI....i do add little sugar in my vegetarian portion makes it more tastier,just the smell of it cooking is enough to stimulate the salivation.Though it is more acidic than lemon or lime but it has a very distinctive taste.
@MARGIE...i appreciate your kind words,THANKS.
@CHUBSKULIT...Thanks now i know at least one word of your language.
@ZB...I like Tanga(coconut) chutney with my idlis a lot.thanks for the information.
@KATHY...thank you .
@MOHAN...thankyou,i visited your blog today,it is great.
@SANDHYA....I checked the net they say that the fruit you mentioned has red flowers while OU TENGA has white flowers and this is an elephant's fav. food as Chanddan told me that elephants are very often found near this tree.May be they belong to the same group of fruits.
This is very interesting, Kavita. Elephant apple... hmmm... and yet it isn't sweet? I loved learning how it stimulates the appetite.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this fruit before today, Kavita. It sounds better the way you described it.
ReplyDelete√ The long johns in my post today were also worn under the pants. The model is wearing them on the outside for us to see.
Pick a Peck of Pixels
oh kavita... mein yahan jaipur mein iska swad lene ki koshish kar rahi hoon.wakai aap ke jariye north east aakar lene lagta hai.
ReplyDeleteThis seems familiar,the way you describe it as slippery inside, but I cant remember it correctly, do you know weather this fruit is available in Calcutta as well? I think we make a dal with this like we do with raw mangoes..but am not really sure.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this fruit,interesting.
ReplyDeleteI love ur blog kavitha u always something new in ur post and it is a learning for a person like me :)
@KAY...It sure is very sour hence called Tenga.Thanks for finding the post interesting.
ReplyDelete@ABRAHAM...Thanks.
@VARSHA...Apke shabd mujhe utsahit karte hain,apka shat shat dhanyavaad.
@SUJATA...Our old neighbour Ganguly aunty always used to give me this sweei chutney made of OT,she would add some coconut and a very unusual herb named AAMAADA(a mixture of ginger and mango flavour)..it tasted like out of this world and she was from Kolkatta.As both the states have more or less same weather and climatic conditions ,i am sure you must have seen it before....i will inquire about it later and let you know .
@VARUNAVI...i love the sound of it ,please keep on loving my blog and me too.Thanks a ton.
Wow! It looks great. And I'm interested in the tips you give here, so I may hang around. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog, Something She Wrote, and for your kind words. I appreciate it!
Very nice. I have never seen this in South India.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you explain your food and its tastes and its uses.
ReplyDeleteinteresting kavita. not had this before.
ReplyDeleteThat Elephant Apple looks like it might be usefull for self defense if you were ever in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching me something new every time I drop by your blog.
I have never heard about elephant apple before. Its amazing to see such a big apple and looks delicious. Very interesting post and also informative.
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting name....never heard something of this kind.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that u have mentioned here a rally makes it very good for health!!
Oh what a wonderful fruit!
ReplyDeleteI do not know him, very interesting properties and how
eating him (here in Italy
the fruit is poorly used
in the preparation of salty foods)
Thanks!
:-)
Hi Didi !! Hope you are having a good time..About post the apple is really as Big as Elephant..:)..Thanks for the information...Great information too..Thanks for sharing..
ReplyDeleteकविता जी बहुत ही मस्त पोस्ट है, हमारी सांस्कृतिक विविधता में खान पान भी शामिल है, आपने तो आसाम के कल्चर के बारे में हर पोस्ट में बड़ी सुन्दरता से लिखा है.
ReplyDeletefascinating, never heard of this fruit before. there are many natural medicines that were used before we had drugs manmade.
ReplyDeleteblogosphere missing u friend..
ReplyDeleteKavita, will you do a musical tag? If, yes, please read the details in my post. Needs time to do it, if you are not interested, no problem!
ReplyDeleteAnyone here, who are interested can do and inform me! I will be happy to read/hear/watch!
Kavita this seems very familiar, Bengalis make dal with sour fruits or just make a chutney which we eat as the last course but I have not seen this fruit before. I am sure it is also available in Bengal, but do not know what this is called there.
ReplyDeleteI love chutneys and my mouth start to water whenever i see these kinds of fruits.Yummy.
i was just looking at yr blog and wondering what happened to my best friend..and there u go..i saw yr comment on my blog..what a coincidence..thanks and best wishes always dear
ReplyDeleteToday, I came to know an interesting fact. I thought like sharing it with you. It is called Elephant Apple because elephants seem to like it very much. It is said that elephants will surely visit the place where we have a Ou-Tenga(Elephant Apple) Tree.
ReplyDeleteAnyways kaha kho gayi ho aaj kal?
where u?
ReplyDeleteIt looked like a coconut. In south, thenga means coconut. But the second picture shows it is not the same as coconut. Anyways, you have made me hungry. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks to Sharmin on facebook I now can add your blog as a favourite. Being an Assamese in Montreal, I really miss the food. Ou tanga and kordoi tenga are of course in my list of favourites. Thanks so much for your blog. You have a fan in me.
ReplyDeleteFarah Ahmad
its called "OWU"in oriya,as i am from orissa..i used to taste different savouries?(sweet/sour)made by owu..
ReplyDeletebengali ppl call it 'chalto'..i think its wood apple...elephant apple is kapittha(sanskrit)kaitha(oriya)kaith(hindi).its widely available in orissa from september to december.
Never heard of it before....I wish I could visit Assam.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any post with scenic beauty of Assam.
In Bengal we call it "chalta" and yes it is typically cooked into an aachaar or chutney (sweetish pickle). Your concept of adding fish is quite novel to me and we will try it out. We live in Mumbai. I got hold of a couple of fruits this morning from a tree here. Came across your blog while hunting for a recipe.
ReplyDelete