Persimmons: A Tomato and Capsicum Look-a-Like Fruit?

This fruit is called persimmon, aka Ramphal (divine fruit) or Kaki in Hindi. I remember last year in Dehradun, around October end, we had our first encounter with this fruit. And knowing that Banu likes to try new things, we bought a kilo of it for Rs. 80. We didn't know what it is, we didn't know how to eat it. We just brought it to our friend's home (where we're staying at that time). When we tasted it? Ughhh, so sappy/fuzzy and I didn't enjoy it. We even tried eating it with salt to no avail. It was a strange fruit...and it was not ready to be eaten! How it looked? - As big as a big capsicum, some are even shaped like capsicum!

So when we arrived home, Banu did some "search and learn" operation on the internet. And there we have it, its name - PERSIMMON. What is it? Click this for more information!

Well, we were left wishing we should have taken some with us! 

Just a week back, while coming back home from a 3-day trip at Kathgodam, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, we found this fruit again. And this time, we knew exactly what it is and how to eat it. The only difference this time is that they are small, much smaller than last year's persimmons. Must be a different variety! They even resemble tomatoes (see pic below).

Our place, Gauchar, lacks a variety of fruits. So, I took the picture above and shown it to our fruit vendor last night and hoping he could get it for us. His first reaction? "That's tomatoes!" Haha! Just wonderful...lol! We know that the chances of getting this fruit here are bleak, not even possible! Even this guy, who gets us some items that are not so in demand, won't be able to get it for us. People here are strange. No taste for variety and new things...as if this fruit is new or imported when it's not!

Anyway, the trick in eating this fruit is that you have to let it ripen so much that it becomes really soft. When you remove the calyx out, it lifts so cleanly and you can split the fruit easily, then it's ready to be eaten. It is sweet and delicious! It somewhat tastes like ripe chico, except for the sandy texture that a chico gives.

While writing this post, only two persimmons left out of a kilo we bought. We regretted only a kilo we took that day thinking it gets spoiled from 6 more hours journey back home from Bowahali, a place where we bought this fruit for Rs. 100/kilo.

By the way, according to Wiki, we will be getting 127 calories for every 100gms of persimmons. Guess we just finished 900 gms of it!

Well, if this fruit is available near you don't hesitate to grab a kilo or two and choose the riper and ripest/softest ones. You'll enjoy it. Eat its skin, too.

~Slices of persimmon, along with its seeds, 2016 bought~

An Update: (November 8, 2015)

Well, it's persimmons' time again and determined to get a hold of this fruit, we decided to do some marketing at Pauri, Garhwal (19kms of winding road from where we are right now-Khirsu). Luckily, among a handful of fruit shops at Pauri, at least there was one shop who sells persimmons. Unfortunately, the displayed persimmons were already rotting. It looked like nobody dared to even taste one. But we were delighted! Huh, a place like Pauri? Impossible! But they were there. So we took 7 kilos of persimmons for Rs.60 per kilo. We chose ripe, riper and ripest. We are eating around 10 persimmons a day. They taste sweet and juicy! 

Never miss Persimmons!

Another Update: (November 6, 2016)

So we know that persimmons' time has already begun a long time ago, 

but unfortunately, no vendors around here even know the look of the fruit. So as usual, 

we carried a picture of them to show to vendors. Last Thursday, 

while my husband was coming from a medical camp he stopped by at our 

usual marketing place (B.Puram, Tehri Garhwal) to do some shopping and voila!, 

persimmons were there, just getting offloaded from the goods truck. Without hesitation, he told the shop keeper that he wants everything. It was a crate of persimmons, about 17 kilos 

including all the pressed and damaged ones which the shopkeeper 

wasn't planning to sell. So, yeah, when he got home, he and the ambulance driver 

were carrying a crate of persimmons. He got them for Rs.100/kilo, after some negotiation for it was to be sold for Rs.140/kilo, but since we are regulars and that too, buying in bulk, Rs.100 per kilo was settled.

Hope there will be another round of crate before the season is over.

See the picture below.

(This variety can be eaten even when its calyx is hard to pluck out,
just make sure that everywhere the fruit is soft.
And it seems like, when ready, its color changes
from orange to red-orange)