Be it figs or raisins, these dry flavors are evergreen, they are full of taste and health.

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Evergreen Dry Fruits Flavors : Most of the boxes of dry fruits are rich in dried fruits only. Dried grapes take the form of raisins and one of their varieties is Munakka. There is a common belief that if food items are dry, they are bland or of bad taste. Eating dry food is the curse of a poor person’s life – eat dry food and drink cold water! Scientists have also confirmed through their experiments that our tongue feels a flavor only when there is some moisture in it. Spit does the same thing inside our mouth, water, oil, ghee etc. have the property to free the volatile, aromatic or tasty elements of any food item from the grip of dry chains. But it is not that dry things do not have their own distinctive flavours.

Probably, saffron, which makes sweet and salty dishes extraordinary with its taste, is consumed dry and the world’s most expensive ‘vegetable’ Gucchi (that too is found in the forests of Kashmir itself) reaches the customer only in dry state. Most of the boxes of dry fruits are rich in dried fruits only. Dried grapes take the form of raisins and one of their varieties is Munakka. It is an integral part of the summer Banarasi drink Thandai and adds to the glory of many sweets.

Same is the condition of apricot, which when dried is called jaddalu. A unique apricot sweet is prepared in Hyderabad in the south from apricots that reach Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand from Central Asia. Dried figs are considered healthy and nowadays they are used in Anjeer ki Barfi, a sweet made to sweeten the mouth of people suffering from diabetes. Another fruit, which many people do not include in the list of fruits, is dates. The dried form of dates is no less tasty or useful. It is considered exceptionally nutritious and those fasting during Ramadan break their fast with dates. Halwa is also made from dates and nowadays they are also filled with cashew nuts and walnuts and presented like chocolate. The spicy sour Aalu Bukhara (Plum in English) is also used more dry than fresh. Sweet juicy plums are called prunes in the West after drying. Nutrition scientists believe that it (like dates) contains indigestible fiber, which keeps the digestive system free from defects and its sweetness poses less risk to health than jaggery or sugar. In our country, mangoes are also dried and used as mango papad or mango powder. In the coastal areas in the west, the mild astringent sourness of dried kokum fruit is used as a substitute for tamarind in many places.

Be it the villages in the rural areas of the Himalayas or the vast desert spread in Rajasthan, fresh vegetables have been rare in these areas till recently. Dry vegetables and berries, carr sagri, fenugreek, radish etc. enrich the food here with its diverse flavours. From Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal along the Tibetan frontier, dried meat (sun-dried dhuwar diye) meat and cheese (churbi) made from yak milk are eaten with great relish. In the maritime region, dried prawns and small fishes spread their flavors in Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu.

Pushpesh Pant

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