The bilimbi fruits are coming ripe fast and furious off our one little tree. They are an unusual fruit - very tart and acidic like a pickle straight off the tree - with a delightfully crisp texture when raw. I have been adding them to fish and chicken dishes where they provide some bright flavor similar to a squeeze of line or lemon. Still, the bilimbis keep coming faster than we can eat them. I looked up lots of recipes on line, mostly from recipe blogs of Goan and Keralan Indians. The easiest recipe that would use the backlog of fruits is jam, so jam I made.
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| The harvest. |
Cut open, you can see the resemblance to carambola, aka starfruit. although the five lobes aren't ridged like starfruit.
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| Crispy, juice-filled flesh. |
All together the harvest yielded a little more than 6 cups of sliced fruit.
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| The 2 quart measuring cup is three-quarters full. The fruit smells of sliced green apples. |
The recipes I saw all called for pre-boiling the fruit and discarding the water before boiling with sugar and water and a cinnamon stick for about 25 minutes.
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| The little cinnamon stick added tons of flavor. |
I decided to use the immersion blender to make it smoother, but I did not strain it.
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| Four small jars of bilimbi jam. |
The jam is really tasty! It would go very well with a cheese plate or even served with lamb or duck. More of a condiment than a sandwich jam, although I would happily spread it on toast. In a few days, when we have some strong sunshine, I will try making dried, salted wedges that are used in lots of Indian cuisines.
In other news, Dennis is able to do more and more and is feeling very well - so yay! We had unusual late season cold front come through and the sea is frothing with energy from the strong winds that continue to blow. The rainfall from the cold front gave us a respite from watering the vegetable garden - so also yay!
I really like that jam idea. I don't think its available here. I make a savory sort of jam using tomatoes and lemons, very good as a condiment as well as spread on toast.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how it would be to make a bilimbi/tomato jam. Do you have a recipe for the tomato and lemon jam? The bilimbis have such thin skin that they aren't a good commercial product. One of the bloggers whose recipe I was using commented that you don't buy them in the market, you must grow them or get them from a neighbor who grows them!
DeleteI use about half and half lemon pieces, zested, and the flesh, no seeds nor skin, of tomatoes. Roma plum tomatoes are best, plenty of flesh, not many seeds. I think about an equal quantity of sugar. I don't use pectin.
DeleteWow, what a great use of your natural resources. I have heard of this fruit, and eaten star fruit but never this one...I'm glad the jam came out well!
ReplyDeleteIt goes by a bunch of different names including cucumber tree and tree sorrel in this part of the world and Irumban Puli in India. Fresh, it tastes like a really sour star fruit pickle.
DeleteGreat photos of the steps and the jam looks and sounds delicious. So glad Dennis is doing well.
ReplyDeleteIt was cooking, Mitchell! And involved sharp knives, so please don't try this at home! Yes, Dennis is doing better every day. What a relief.
DeleteGood news on Dennis! I know you are resting easier.
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of bilimbis! They sound like something made up in a Dr. Dolittle book but they sound delicious. Your jam reminds me a bit of my pepper jam. Which, by the way, I still have so much of from last year and the peppers are already planted again this year!
I wonder if the bilimbi tree would grow here. There is a nursery a bit west of here that specializes in exotic fruits. I should pay them a visit!
I'm sure bilimbi would grow in Lloyd, but you would have to protect during a hard freeze. Check out that nursery!
DeleteInteresting! I've never heard of a bilimbi, but looking at that top photo I was thinking they resembled starfruit. Good for you for making jam. I'm glad Dennis is better.
ReplyDeleteI pureed some bilimbi today to add to the tomato sauce I was making. Gave it nice tanginess! And Dennis shows improvement every day, slow but steady.
DeleteBilimbi Fruit. Not to be consumed to excess apparently. It contains Oxalate an organic acid and can harm the kidneys. Not trying to put you off or anything Wilma. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd not to be consumed at all if you are prone to gout or kidney stones! The oxalic acid is what makes them so tangy. I think it would be hard to eat them in excess, but I did see an account (online) of folks who had been badly affected by drinking lots of bilimbi juice as a "tonic".
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