Kokum

Kokum is the dried rind of Garcinia indica, a slender dioecious tree of the mangosteen family endemic to the Western Ghats and the Konkan littoral from southern Maharashtra through Goa into coastal Karnataka. The fresh fruit is a plum-sized purple-red berry with sticky yellow pulp, but it is the outer skin — peeled, salted and sun-cured for four to five days until it turns leathery and purple-black — that powers the pantry. The dominant acid is (-)-hydroxycitric acid, or HCA, an isomer of citric acid that makes up fifteen to thirty percent of the dry rind and has a rounder, less biting sourness than tamarind or lime; anthocyanins give the steeping water its distinctive rose-to-garnet hue, and garcinol contributes a faint resinous bitterness. Hydroxycitric acid is the same compound extracted industrially for weight-loss supplements, a trade that has reshaped pricing on the Konkan since the early 2000s. Culinarily, kokum defines Maharashtrian and Goan Hindu and Saraswat kitchens. Sol kadhi — a pale pink digestive drink of kokum infusion, coconut milk, green chilli and garlic — closes almost every Konkan meal. Goan fish curry (xitt kodi) leans on kokum rather than tamarind for its sourness. Amti, a Maharashtrian toor dal, uses four or five pieces per pot. Dried kokum is also pressed for kokum butter, a pale cosmetic and confectionery fat solid at room temperature.