My mother used to make porichakuzhambu with fresh chundakkai, chundakkai kept in salt and turmeric water for 10-15 days and then sauted in oil, vathal kuzhambu with the dried chundakkai ones etc. She used to say that it is very good for stomach problems. But in any form, whether it is fried or fresh one, I love to eat the same.
In Mumbai, I used to see them on the roads leading to L&T via Powai during 1980s. Once I brought the plant from there as we were travelling by scooter. Since then, lots of development has taken place and it is totally wiped out. Now a days, it is very difficult to see this plant. However, I spotted the same in an open place near my society and got the chance to pluck the chundakkai.
Chunda (Solanum torvum) plants produce small perfectly spherical fruits, which was commonly found almost throughout Kerala is now almost a rare sight. People used chunadakka (the fruit of chunda or sunda) as a vegetable that goes into sambar and individual curries. Chundakka is also spelt chundakkai, sundakka and sundakkai). Its English name is Turkey berry.
The Turkey berry belongs to the potato family and is found in all tropical regions. This dried or fresh berry has many nutritive and medicinal qualities and is naturally tangy and bitter.
In home remedies, coughs are treated with the roasted turkey berry powder. It is an instant remedy for stomach problems including worm infestation, anaemia and is used as a tonic for liver complaints. It is used to control blood pressure. As an Ayurvedic herb, it has sedative, diuretic and digestive properties.
The wild-berry is preserved by soaking it in curd and then sun-drying it. As a curative it is usually roasted in a little ghee or oil and crumbled and mixed with hot rice and eaten.
It is called as Marang in Marathi, Bhurat in Hindi.
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| chundakkai poricha kuzhambu |
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| lapsi, poricha kuzhambu and rajasthani bhindi |
