Ice Apples Orangeade
Ice apples or tadgola or Munjul are in season! And most people don’t know about it.
This is a very low key Indian fruit which is in season in May and comes from the palm trees. A bit like tender coconut, it is full of minerals and is really refreshing on a hot day. Unfortunately not many people know about it – like the “jaam“, “ber” and “jamun“. Every summer my cousins used to visit me from Nagpur. They would come with baskets of oranges. They would spend summer with us and we all used to go to swimming class in the mornings. After the class, mom used to buy tadgola ( as ice apples are called in Marathi) for all of us. We used to stand under the hot sun waiting for the peeled and cored fruit. We relished the little squirt of water from the plump fruit and then dig into its meat. Yum! Sometimes we used to all have tender coconut.
Recently, I found a street side vendor who was selling these. We stopped the car and asked him to give us a dozen ice apples. The vendor cored out the plump chunks of ice apples from the whole palm fruit and then gave us a dozen. We ate most as is, but I wondered what else could I use them for? As they are very similar to a lychee in taste, I considered making a martini, or a mousse or a pudding. But then as we had tender coconut and oranges on hand, I made a summer drink out of them. Freshly squeezed oranges, coconut water and chopped up iced apples made a colorful summer special.
Ice apples are available at many places across Mumbai and Hyderabad. They are sold by small street side vendors. In Hyderabad they are usually sold in the morning in little carts covered with leaves. If you love local seasonal fruits then it doesn’t get any better than this. There are many more summer fruits vying for our attention now that we had our fill of mangoes – jamun, jackfruit …yipee!
But back to this orangeade, it was like recreating summer magic in a drink. Cousins, swim lessons, fights, gossip. Give it a try with fresh or drained canned lychees. I am sure it will be a hit and add tropical flair to your summer days!
Ice Apples Orangeade
Serves 2
- 3 ice apples chopped ( about 6 – 8 fresh lychees)
- Juice from 1 orange
- Water from 1 tender coconut
- 1 shot orange vodka (optional)
1. In a shaker, add ice cubes, and all the ingredients. Shake, shake, shake.
2. Pour in two glasses. Chill. Serve cold.
Enjoy!
Posted on May 24, 2013, in Drinks, Food and tagged drink, Food photography, Ice apples, indian summer fruits, munjul, Photography, Recipe, Summer, tadgola, tropical fruits, unusual fruits. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Living Large on Tiny Lot 
Looks delicious Will try this over the weekend.
awesome! i’ve never tried these and wish i could find them in colorado… i’ll have to look out at my specialty markets for it… thanks for sharing!
Hi R,
Ice apples – didn’t know they were called that. Munjal around Hyderabad or in Andhra (coastal) and few miles inland, where they are known as Munja Kayalu.
My family owns property around West Godavari, where these trees are prevalent and usually line the rice paddy fields. I have fond memories of my summer vacations, when visiting my grandparents and relatives, who routinely (during visits to the farms) arranged the farm worker who scaled up the 20 to 50 feet long tree (very similar to a palm tree) using simple rope and a hop technique with heavy waist belt holding tools/curved knife. Once up top, the farm worker hacked selectively stalks, with each stalk holding 10 to 15 ice apples. Each heavy stalk fell to the ground (free fall) with all ice applies still attached, and on occasions would have one or two ice apples come loose upon impact to the ground. And we watched from a safe distance.
We had to patiently wait for the farm worked to scale down the tree, and in the mean time, we gathered up all the fallen stalks of ice apples. The farm worker, then worked his knife to gradually chop the outer skin and get to the fruit carefully. This enabled us to taste fresh fruit under a hot sun.
Additionally,
I stumbled on an article (attached below) that talks about the benefits of Ice apples in that, iIt is packed with minerals. With almost no protein, fat, or carbohydrates, the fruit is a boon for those on a diet and patients. The fruit along with other edible parts of the palmyrah is used for treating stomach and skin disorders”
For more on the article:
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/04/26/stories/2008042651790200.htm
Thank you for the opportunity.
Thanks for the additional info. They are so refreshing – no wonder they are filled with minerals!
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