In India, the Chikoo Fruit Spreads its Sweet Legacy
Text and photos by Khursheed Dinshaw
The entrepreneurs behind chikoo products harness the power of the sun by using a solar drier to dry the fruit in a hygienic manner.
Anita Dubla is standing on a thick branch of a chikoo tree in the town of Dahanu, in the state of Maharashtra in India. Behind her, there is a bucket to drop the fruit once she collects them. In her hand is a bedni, which is an indigenous tool to pluck chikoos. It is a long stick almost 15 feet in height with mesh at its top to collect the nearly ripe fruit.
Dubla has been plucking chikoos for almost three decades and belongs to the Halpati tribe, which is into cultivation. In fact, Halpati gets its name from the word farmer. She makes the process look like child’s play. I decide to try my hand at it only to realize that balancing the bedni even on firm ground is a skill that I have yet to possess.
In a few minutes, the bucket fills up and is replaced with an empty one. The filled bucket is then taken to the area where a number of women vigorously wash the fruit to remove the sap. They place the chikoos in a bag, fill it with water, hold both its ends and tilt it quickly from side to side in a synchronized movement.
Chikoos at an auction house.
The chikoos are then sent to the auction house. Curious to see a live auction, I make my way to the one close by. The auction house is enclosed to ensure that the chikoos remain dry, especially in the rainy season, when they are prone to getting fungus if they get wet. The auction usually starts around 4 pm.
I stand near the collection enclosure and see the farmers from nearby farms get their fruit according to its size, big or small. A number is also assigned to the fruit. This number is written on the display bag, which contains 30 kilograms of fruit. Bidding starts for 10 kilograms. The highest bidder gets the fruit, which is then packed in corrugated boxes and dispatched. Though there is a frenzy during an auction, it is an organized hustle bustle.
“The corrugated boxes are designed in such a way that an exact number of fruit fit in a box without putting pressure on one another. Earlier wooden boxes were used, which were cumbersome ,and effort was required to remove their wooden lid,” explains Mancher Mubarakai, managing director of a chikoo auction house in Dahanu. It is advisable to consume the fruit within 72 hours and hence transporting it effectively becomes crucial.
The towns of Gholvad and Dahanu are pioneers of chikoos in India, and the Gholvad Dahanu chikoo was given a geographical indication, or GI, on December 27, 2016.
However, this fruit’s journey began in the late 18th century, when Seth Dinshaw Petit visited Central America. Petit had a garden in the city of Mumbai. He loved to collect saplings and plants from all over the world to have them transplanted there.
One of his finds was the Amazon rainforest tree called sapota, bearing brown fruit. Since there was no place left in the Mumbai garden, he had it planted in his orchard in Gholvad. After the tree bore chikoo fruit, Petit’s manager packed the fruit in boxes and had it sent to Crawford Market in Mumbai to see if there were any takers for it. The market is very well known for its sale of household goods and daily supplies in South Mumbai. Built in gothic architecture, the market has since been renamed Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai.
After the fruit sold well, the Irani community in Gholvad and Dahanu started its cultivation on a large scale. Chikoos became an intrinsic part of the culture of both towns. Sometime in the 1940s, a storm hit the area and destroyed the chikoo plantations. None of the locals were prepared for the rampant destruction caused. The natural disaster brought to light the fragility of the shallow root system of the chikoo trees. Growers needed a solution.
“A local farmer named Merwan Khodadad grafted a part of the chikoo branch onto a rhyne tree which has a sap similar to the chikoo sap and a strong root system hoping they would blend and grow together,” says Farzan Mazda, owner of Dautalabad Farm in Dahanu. “The experiment was a success and hence forth the grafted rhyne chikoo version began to be grown. This graft which can withstand storms is unique to Gholvad and Dahanu.”
As I look closely at the trees in an orchard after hearing about this, I wonder why the chikoos of the Gholvad-Dahanu belt are so special and so much in demand. Mazda opines that it is because of their sweet taste which comes from the harmonious blend of soil and weather.
It takes five years for a tree to bear fruit and four months after flowering for the fruit to develop. Parrots are not considered to be friends of the farmers, as they destroy the fruit to eat its seed. Bats and seed borers also attack it.
Chikoos contain antioxidants, calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin A, C and E, and are a good source of dietary fiber. The locals were quite aware of these health benefits and felt a need to reduce waste of the fruit. This resulted in a wide range of products like chips, mouth freshener, chocolates and toffees, sweet meats, milkshakes and breakfast cereal.
The entrepreneurs behind these products harness the power of the sun by using a solar drier to dry the chikoos in a hygienic manner. This method is not only sustainable but also quicker than the traditional way of drying the fruit using a net.
Chikoo chips “make for good munchies that can be had as a snack or given to kids in their school tiffin,” says Latika A. Patil.
Latika A. Patil is a first-generation chipmaking entrepreneur and owner of Gold Orchards. When I visit to see how chikoo chips are prepares, she welcomes me warmly and under the shade of a chikoo tree. Patil then leads me to her orchard located around her home and we pluck a few chikoos.
She washes the fruit properly before proceeding to peel its skin. Next the fruit is cut evenly so that when it is dried, each piece is evenly dehydrated.
“A solar drier dries the cut pieces in five hours, retaining the color, taste and aroma,” she says, as I munch on a fresh batch of chips. “They make for good munchies that can be had as a snack or given to kids in their school tiffin. From 10 kilograms of the fruit, two kilograms of chips are made.”
Fruto Magic is a brand that manufactures breakfast cereal from chikoo. It is made by drying the chips for a longer time making them crunchier. The cereal is eaten with milk and is a hit with kids. Chikoo powder is made by even further drying the chips and then grinding them in a grinder. This powder is the base for making milkshakes, sweet meats and desserts.
Dried chikoo coated with chocolate is marketed under the brand Chitu. The brand Dolly manufactures chocolates where dried chikoo pieces are mixed with chocolate.
“Chikoo mouth freshener contains chikoo, lemon, rock salt and cumin,” says Ninad Patil, another chikoo entrepreneur whom I visit. “It has a tangy and sweet taste.” He is fond of pickles made from the fruit.
Gholvad and Dahanu are also known for their beaches, and on my way to the Gholvad Beach, I stop at a chikoo parlor. It offers a variety of chikoo products including sweet meats along with milkshake and toffees. At the parlor, chunda, which is a traditional pickle from the state of Gujarat, is prepared from chikoo powder. It is available both in tangy and sweet flavours.
“Rolls and katri which is an Indian mithai are made with chikoo and cashew and have a shelf life of 15 days. For most of the sweet meats the main ingredient is chikoo powder,” says Subak Churi, owner of a chikoo parlor. I eye the halva which is made with chikoo powder and corn flour as it sits invitingly in the showcase display. Next to it, a tray of the popular sweet meat called double decker barfi is tempting as well.
The mithai is named so because it has a soft upper layer of milk cake and a lower layer of chikoo. Chikoo chakri is a two layered roll resembling a swiss roll with a chikoo filling made with chikoo and condensed milk. Toffees are also popular.
“A syrup is prepared with glucose and sugar and once it reaches a certain temperature, chikoo powder is added to make toffees,” adds Monali Raut, owner of another chikoo parlour as I buy a few packets to take home.
