Kudampuli (Garcinia Cambogia)
Kudampuli
Other names: Garcinia Cambogia, Garcinia gummi-gutta, Kerala Tamarind, Brindal berry, Malabar Tamarind, Gambooge.
Kudampuli is a vital ingredient in Kerala fish curries. In olden days, during the weddings, the fish curry would be prepared in earthern clay pots called 'chatti' with kudampuli 2-3 days before the big day. But when eating the fish curry, kudampuli is discarded. Kudampuli helps blend in all the flavors and it also acts as the preservative. It has a sour taste.
Kudampuli is always misunderstood for Kokum. Both belong to the same family, 'Garcinia'. The rind of the ripe fruit is known to be the richest source of hydroxy citric acid (HCA), the unique calcium containing acid.
The fruit resembles a small pumpkin and it has a orange-yellow color when it ripens. The seperated fruit rind is sun dried for many days till it achieves a black color with no traces of yellowish color. It is then smoked or oven dried. To increase the storage life, the dried rind is mixed with salt. In olden days the dried kudampuli was stored in a vessel called 'bharani'. The dried kudampuli can be stored for many years.
Kudampuli is known to treat stomach disorders and lower bad cholesterol. It is also used as a anti-obesity drug in the west.
Kudampuli should be washed well before using in curries.
Comments
Snigdha says :
Very Interesting. Yes..it resembles so much in character to 'Kokum', no wonder they both belong to the same family!
viprlakumar says :
Very Good information.Kokum is burn to the extra colostrol.Its if use so many food menu useful.
shantihhh says :
Tamerind I know and use often, but Kudampuli is new to me-is there an English name? Thanks for the great information! I have looked up a photo of this fresh and it like a green tomatillo-sort of. VERY interesting.
Shanti/Mary-Anne
raynair says :
Blessy, The information about KUDAMPULI was great. Since it is in the Garcinia family, do we find mangosteen in Kerala at all? Is it available in fresh or dried form in th USA. I live in USA and would like to eat mangosteen or Kudampuli fruit for medicinal purposes. I know I can buy Mangosteen juice here, but is very expensive. Can some one please respond. Thanks, Ray Nair.
shantihhh says :
Fresh Mangosteen is available at Asian Markets. Be careful as the purple rind stains everything! I love mangosteen.
Shanti/Mary-Anne
Prachi says :
This is very useful information for me. Can any one tell me where do i will get the fresh fruits of Kudampuli (Garcinia Cambogia)? I am Ph.D. student of Mumbai university.
Dhamendra says :
You can get that in Kerala now, I meant the fresh ripe ones...the season for that is ending...so grab hold of some mallu friends for it.....if u r lookin got the dried one I can supply it...You have to come down to Bangalore
asmita says :
i bought it iunstead of kokum and was confused because kokum is soft and kudumpuli is kinf of hard and like flower cut into mtwo pieces and bit hard too different in taste too but i am glad it has the same contents like the kokum. usually we use kokum but now i'll try this one we are mangoloreans and we use in fish curry.
