Vilampazham Rasam [wood apple rasam]

Vilampazham, or the wood apple, or the fruit of the Vila maram (tree) belongs in one of those perpetually contested lineages because it is often confused for the fruit of the Bilva maram or bilva tree [Vilvam, in Tamil]–the one that grows as a “sthala vriksha” or “tree of the place” in Shiva temples. The latter is the more culturally popular one, and the homophonic similarity between “Vila” and “Vilva” trees admittedly contributed to my own confusing the one for the other, too.

It doesn’t end there though. The fruits of both trees look surprisingly similar, and are colloquially both known as “wood apples.” Both are juiced, both can be tart! Then, because the fruit of the Bilva tree is called “bael,” some folks start calling all wood apples “bael” and suddenly what the taxonomists take pains to distinguish is indisinguishable in popular parlance. To compound things even further, both fruits then get offered at Vinayaka chaturti, even though it’s really only Vilampazham that’s known as the “elephant apple” and therefore thought to be favored by Ganesha, our culturally most beloved and revered Elephant.

You’d have to have grown up around these trees, as did Archana Chandrasekaran @thethiruvarurgirl & Sweta Biswal @swetabiswal–two dear friends who each helped me get the distinctions sorted, and who shared a number of details about each tree and fruit which I’ve incorporated below. This post wouldn’t have happened but for them! (Though the rasam might have!)

So, before I get to rasam, based on what I’ve learned, let me try to set this record straight…

The Bilva tree is Aegle marmelos. The tree’s leaves have a distinct tri-foliate (three-lobed) structure, said to represent the three eyes of Shiva. This (among other things–there are countless stories about the Bilva tree, born from the Goddess Parvathi and in which she is believed to reside) makes it a favored offering, and you’ll often find this tree growing in Shiva temples, and elsewhere shorn of lower branch leaves plucked off by devotees! The fruiting season is April-May; fruits are Astringent when raw, sweet when ripe.

The Vila maram, on the other hand, is Limonia Acidissima: wood apple, elephant apple (Feronia elephantum). The start of the fruiting season (October or a little earlier perhaps) coincides with Vinayaka Chaturthi and thus is the fruit a perfect offering–it’s the elephant apple, after all, thought to be favored by in forests and thus offered to our most revered and beloved Ganesha. Sweta added that this is one of a triumvirate of native sour fruits: Oou (Dillenia Indica), Kandhiya (native sweet lime), and this wood apple, kaith or kaintha in Odia. (Indeed, the fruit is also sometimes called the kaith bael, both noting the similarity to bael, and confusing the two all over again).

Every part of the Vila maram has medicinal properties. Bark and leaves are prescribed by Ayurvedic physicians for “vitiated vata and pitta conditions” [Source: Pratima Vijayvargia, Rekha Vijayvergia, “A Review on Limonia acidissima l.: Multipotential Medicinal Plant”]. The same article indicates that the fruit might be used as a substitute for bael in diarrhea/dysentry treatment–suggesting far greater commonality in properties or just more levels of confusion, I’m not sure which. Otherwise, the fruit “is much used in India as a liver and cardiac tonic, and, when unripe, as an astringent means of halting diarrhea and dysentery and effective treatment for hiccough, sore throat and diseases of the gums. The pulp is poulticed onto bites and stings of venomous insects, as is the powdered rind” [Source].

In daily use, such specificities might be eschewed for the far simpler idea that drinking the juice of this fruit (sweetened with palm sugar and mixed with coconut milk) is “good for health,” which is fine for most of us I suppose.

Finally: rasam. Ripe or raw, vilampazham pulp has a distinct sour taste that makes it a great base for juices, jams, and of course rasams. Its characteristic sourness becomes the predominant flavor & tamarind or tomatoes are merely optional additions, if the fruit isn’t sour enough.

Getting to the sour pulp, however, is another story. Recall how this is known as a wood apple? So the shell, for it is that more than a “rind,” needs to be cracked with a stone or other heavy object. This isn’t hard; it just needs to be done. (On the flip side, vilampazham shopping is simple–never a worry about fruit getting squished or spoiled in transit!)

Inside is the brown pulp, within a nest of fibres and full of seeds. Extracting this is also not hard, but it has to be done! Pretty much by mixing in a little water, using fingers to mash, and straining the pulp out through a strainer. [Watch the Instagram video embedded further below to see just how.]

Save the shells though! They, too, have medicinal properties which are commonly extracted by boiling the shells along with the rest of the rasam ingredients (and then lifting and discarding them later).

There are many (many) souring agents used to make rasam: tamarind, tomatoes, and lime/lemon are the most common, followed by yogurt, kokum, pineapple, amla, native plum, and perhaps others. Sometimes the rasam will feature the souring agent (buttermilk, lemon, tomato rasams); other times the bitters (as with my pavazhamalli rasam) or astringency (as with vetrilai or betel leaf rasam), or even sweetness (as with oliga chaarus or Mysore rasams which are made with coconut milk). To my mind, Kudampuli (Malabar tamarind) and vilampazham are among the more specialized of “sour” highlights from the south. If there needed to be a sub-categorization system for rasams–arusuvai would be it & this one falls within the spectrum of the sours.

Now I know there are many who will use tomatoes in every sort of rasam they make, and I’ve often wondered why because the tomato adds its own distinct sweet-sourness that doesn’t necessarily meet or compliment the other tastes intermingling or being showcased. I tend not to want to interfere with the key taste at hand. (My kitchen is not welcome to Marie Kondo, but my approach to cookery certainly is). I hope you’ll see this coming across in the recipe below, even though I sometimes use a little tamarind alongside the vilampazham itself.

Enjoy!

Vilampazham or Wood Apple Rasam

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Ingredients

  

For the Rasam

• A fistful of toor dal
• 2-3 vilampazham or wood apple fruits
• A little tamarind Optional; see instructions
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 1-1½ teaspoons rasam powder
• A little jaggery to taste
• Salt to taste

Seasoning & Garnishing

• 1 teaspoon ghee
• ½ teaspoon each mustard seeds and jeera
• 1 broken red chilli
• A generous pinch of hing
• Curry leaves
• Fresh coriander leaves and stalks to garnish

Instructions

 

• Set the toor dal to boil in 3/4 litre of water in a large pan or eeya chombu
• Break open the vilampazham fruits with a stone. Reserve the shells. The pulp and fibres come out easily but now the pulp needs to be extracted.
• Put it in a bowl, add a little water and mash with your hands to loosen the fibres and seeds
• Strain this and reserve the extracted pulp. Repeat by adding more water a few times until all the pulp has been extracted.
• Taste a little of this vilampazham water—if it’s very sour, you’ll need to add no tamarind. If not, tamarind may be needed to bring the rasam together.
• Once the dal is cooked, pour the vilampazham water in
• Add the turmeric, rasam powder, jaggery, and salt
• If you need to add tamarind water, do so now as well.
• Drop a few of the vilampazham shells into the rasam, too.
• Leave this to simmer until the raw smell of tamarind is gone (if using) or until the mixture looks like it will soon froth

To season:

• In a separate small seasoning pan, heat the ghee and drop all the dry seasonings in. When the mustard seeds splutter and the jeera crackles, follow quickly with the curry leaves.
• Fry these for a moment, and then pour this onto the frothing rasam. Switch off the flame.
• Lift out the shells and add lots of fresh coriander leaves and stalks
• Serve hot with more ghee and a soft rice like ottadaiyan or khichli samba

Video

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