Gunda (Gum Berry) is known as ‘Lesoda ’ in North India . These raw fruits are available for a very limited period of time from March to June in summer .It is believed that Gunda has anti-diabetic properties .
Gunda is also known as Fragrant Manjack, Gumberry, Laboda, Cherry,Bird Lime, Clammy Berries or Cordia Dichotoma. The botanical name of gunda is Cordia dichotoma forst. It is a fruit of the genus of shrubs called Cordia. This gunda fruit belongs to the borage family. The common name of gunda is Fragrant manjack. Gunda is a glossy-green colored fruit with a jelly like pulp. It has a sour taste with a fragrant fruity aroma. Gunda fruit is used mostly in Gujrati and Andhra cuisine for making pickles.
Benefits:– Good for diabetic patients, Delays effects of aging, Treats cough, Relieves colic pain, Treats fever, Heals wounds, Clears intestinal worms, Treats asthma.
Ingredients:
- 40-50 gum berries
- 2 bags of frozen raw mango cut pieces (it comes in 12 oz frozen bag)
- 1/2 cup of Gujrati pickle/Achar masala (I bought ready made "Swad" brand, but it is easy to make, I will post the recipe at end of this post) and 1/3 cup extra pickle/Achar masala for mango.
- 1/2 cup of any vegetable cooking oil
- 1/2 cup of mustard oil
- 1/4 cup of crushed Fennel seeds (sauf)
- 1 table spoon of Koshar salt (Achar masala has salt so you don't need to add too much salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon of asfoetida (hing)
- 2 teaspoon of Turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon of mango powder
Method:
- Wash and dry all the berries thoroughly.
- Remove the crown from each berry.
- Partially crush each berry with pestle and remove the pit. Inside of berry and pit is very sticky and gummy, you can dip your fingers in oil or salt to avoid sticky fingers when removing the pit.
- Stuff each berry with the pickle masala.
- Place them in a small wok (kadai) or sauce pan and add oil. Place it on stove and turn the stove on low to medium flame and 5-6 min, gently turning them over so all sides of berries are cooked. Turn the stove off and set aside.
- Prepare mango pieces with following steps.
- Empty frozen mango pieces in a glass bowl and cook in microwave for 6-8 min to desired tenderness, stirring in between. Take it out of microwave.
- Add 1/4 cup of extra pickle masala, turmeric, mango powder, salt, asfoetida and fennel seeds.
- Added cooked gum berries with oil and pickle masala to these mango + spices.
- Toss everything gentle and add any of remaining pickle masala and oil of needed.
- Let everything cool to room temp if still warm.
- It is ready to be served or you can put it in an air tight jar to store.
Dry Achar Masala/Gujrati and Punjabi recipe:
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup split fenugreek seeds
- 2 cups split mustard seeds
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 4 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon asofetida (hing)
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup cayenne pepper or Kashmiri pepper powder (coarse)
- Optional to make Punjabi achar masala add following blended spices
- 1/4 cup of Kalonji/Nigella seeds (onion seeds)
- 1/3 cup of crushed fennel seeds (Sauf)
- 1/3 cup of mango powder)
Instructions
- Mix all spices(except asofetida/hing) and salt in a bowl.
- Add blended spices to a bowl.
- Add asofetdia (hing) to center of bowl
- Heat oil on the stove to smoking point (2-3 minutes on high)
- Pour heated oil onto asofetida.
- Mix the mixture thoroughly.
- Methi masala/ or Punjabi achar masala is ready.
Notes
The recipe makes about 2 cups so you can bottle it up and use it when needed.
Gunda berry info source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordia
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Enjoy !!
Recipe and photographs by Surekha.
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