Indian Fruit, Part II

One of India's many pleasures has to be all the fruit that grows here, as I attested to in my blog last year. South India is particularity tropical and fertile which lends itself to fruitasticness. I arrived slightly too late for mango season this year, which really bummed me out cause they are better here than anywhere I've ever had them. I was easily consoled by having lots of delicious guavas and pomegranates though, so I can't be too upset. I decided to share some of the other fruits I've tried for the first time since I've been back!

Custard Apples

These guys are kinda shaped like apples but the similarities end there. They are kinda scaly on the outside and inside there is soft white fruit and seeds. The consistency is soft- kinda a combination of a grape and a pear and the taste is (at least to me) a cross between a pear and a pineapple- delicious if you throw it in a blender and drink it, seeds and all!

Chickoo

Also called sappodilla, these guys look like baby potatoes but are in fact sweet like candy- they almost taste like pears dipped in caramel. The consistency is like a pear too, but you have to pick out the seeds, which can have little hooks on one end that will cut you- dangerous and delicious!

Butterfruit

Wow I thought when I saw this on the menu at a juice place (no ice please... gotta watch where that water comes from)- I like butter, I like fruit- this sounds awesome! And it was. It came out super-thick, green, mildly sweet, mildly familiar and extremely delicious. After I was finished I asked to see what it looked like, and to my surprise, the macha (dude in Tamil) pulled out an avacado. So now you know, avacado is called butterfruit in Tamil Nadu. AND, it makes a delicious (if thick) juice if thrown in a blender.