Bilimbi - This tree grows widely in warm environments of South East Asia, in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It is called “Vilumpi” in Malayalam, “Gommareku” in Telugu and belongs to the carambola family.
Bilimbi is a short tree, with a maximum height of 10m, that survives for a long period of time in all types of soil conditions. These tree has reddish-purple flowers, yellowish green fruits. Tastes somewhat like goose berry(not exactly same). But tastes great. these fruits contain large amounts of vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, iron. Leaves, Fruits, flowers of this plant have useful benefits for health.
These fruits look like coccinea in shape. You can identify them by seeing the ends of the fruit.
Health benefits
1. Best medicine for Muscle Cramps
Bilimbi is an amazing natural remedy for reducing muscle pain.Massaging the arms, legs, body with the paste of crushed bilimbi leaves provides instant relief.
2.Cures Cough And Cold
As it is rich in vitamin C, best for cough and cold. It also treats coughs and colds due to seasonal changes and allergies too.
3.Control sugar levels
Bilimbi fruits have the valuable quality of controlling blood sugar levels, by monitoring insulin activity in the body. These fruits can be taken as juice, pickle, jam, paste etc.
4. Beauty purpose
Applying a paste of mashed bilimbi along with honey on the face once a week diminishes dark spots, scars, blemishes, lessens swelling, redness in acne, pimples, for soft, clear and glowing skin.
Bilimbi has large amounts of calcium, which enhances bone density and maintains the structural integrity of the body.
Any thing which have advantages simultaneously will have disadvatages too.. Its is a fruit which is safe for consumption when taken in small amounts as part of the daily diet. if lots of bilimbi fruits are eaten at once or regularly, then it shows acidic reaction on the body, it results in indigestion, heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems.
With these fruits we can make pickle too which is very easy to make. Now quickly lets checkout the ingredients required for the pickle recipe.
Ingredients Required
- Bilimbi Fruits - 1/4kg
- Salt - 1/8th cup
- Red Chilli Powder - 1/4th cup
- Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
- Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp
- Garlic - 1
- Oil - 1/4th cup
Preparation
1. Bilimbi fruits look as shown below.
2. Chop them as shown or you can chop them vertically.
3. Now add fried fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds into a mixi jar. Just dry roast fenugreek for 2 to 3mins, till colour changes. No need to fry mustard seeds.
4. Grind to fine powder and keep aside.
5. Now add 1 full garlic cloves and grind to paste.
6. Then add salt, red chilli powder(this is raw red chilli powder used for pickles), grounded fenugreek, mustard powder, garlic paste and mix all together.
7. Mix all together.
8. Add oil and mix
9. Let rest for a day. Then releases oil and looks as below.
Now bilimbi pickle is ready to serve.