Sitaphal

When I used to live in Delhi I regularly heard about the fruit called 'Sitaphal'. I didn't know what it was. 

We are now living in Rajasthan, the land of Sitaphal and it happens to be the season. When I first saw it I thought it looked like an artichoke and didn't seem very appealing. With some nagging Manjeev convinced me to try... It turned out to be the best fruit I have ever tasted in my life. It is almost (I said almost) as good as having Nutella and those who know me know that that's a very bold statement coming from me. 

There's a lot of pips and not much meat in the fruit so it's not a lazy man's fruit (unlike Nutella) but it is well worth the effort. 

I was wondering why lemurs (monkeys) don't eat these fruits. Here's an interesting explanation: sitaphal literally means Sita's fruit. Sita is Rama's wife in Hindu religion and Hanuman (the monkey God) worshipped both Rama and his wife. Hence, monkeys wouldn't dare touch Sita's fruit. Good. That way there's more for us. 

the left overs

nature morte