Did you ever try nongu (in Tamil) or palm fruit seed or ice apple? It is a very special summer fruit available in the tropical region. Many Bengali people also raise their eyebrows because certainly, they did not hear about this nongu. If I would say taal saas then there will be a smile on their face because taal saas is a very common summer fruit in West Bengal & Bangladesh. But as a Bengali, I use to have this as a fruit and directly consume this. I was surprised to know that in many states, it is also used to make the delicious drink – Nongu paal or palm fruit drink or ice apple milkshake.
So being a foodie I can not stop myself to try this at home that too according to my taste.
For me, it was a milkshake. But I never knew whether I would like this or it would be just a healthy drink. I have noticed that I took time to start liking a new food or drink if it is prepared with absolutely new ingredients or adopted a different cooking style.
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But in this case, this nongu paal surprised me. It was really refreshing & mouthwatering. It was really flavorful and you can not refrain yourself from holding the glass of this nongu paal (palm fruit drink or ice apple milkshake) and start sipping, haha. Yes, it was that much delicious. I was surprised why I did not taste this awesome drink before.
Nongu or taal saas is such a summer fruit what I generally do not buy from a permanent fruit shop, rather many roaming street fruit vendors use to come at our doorstep during this period. I use to buy these fruits from those fruit sellers. We can easily buy 5-7 pieces of nongu/ice apple/taal saas for Rs 20 from those fruit sellers. But this fruit is normally available for a very short period. From mid of May to mid of June, this one month is the season of this fruit because after that palm fruits gets matured and its seeds will no longer be edible. So beyond this period you may have nongu/taal saas but those fruits will be a little expensive or not as good as it supposed to be.
Nongu paal recipe (Palm fruit drink or Ice apple milkshake)
- 2 nongu/palm fruit seeds
- 150 ml milk
- 4 cashew nuts, optional
- 1 cardamom, I used only its seeds
- 1.5 teaspoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon rose water
- Some ice cubes
- Peel nongu/palm fruit seed and cut into pieces
- Now heat milk and add cardamom seeds & cashew nuts and boil for 7 minutes over low flame
- Then add add sugar and boil again for next 2-3 minutes & switch off fire
- Keep it aside for 30 minutes till it reaches at room temperature
- Now take that milk & nongu pieces into a blender and blend
- Take it in a bowl and keep it in a freezer for 15 minutes
- Then take it out and add a few drops of rose water and stir/blend
- Add ice cubes in to glass and pour this drink into that glass and serve
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