Elephant apple

Dillenia indica · Tropical fruit

40 pairings

Elephant apple (Dillenia indica), known as chalta in Bengali and Hindi and ou tenga in Assamese, is a large, hard, greenish fruit of the Dilleniaceae family native to the moist forests of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. What looks like a single fruit is actually a cluster of fleshy, overlapping sepals enclosing a sour, fibrous, gelatinous core — too acidic and astringent to eat raw, and prized instead for tart curries, chutneys and pickles across northeast India and Bangladesh.

Picking a good onedrag

Rock-hard, tight sepals, pale greenSlack, brown-seamed, fermenting

Shop firmThe standard stage for ou tenga fish curry, dal, chutney or pickle. It will not sweeten on your counter, so there is nothing to wait for.Everyday best

Sepal scalesClosed and firm, edges gone yellow-buff

The heftFirm all over, no give under a thumb

Stem endScar darkened but still dry and closed

Smell at the stemGreen and clean, almost nothing

What to look for, from rock-hard, tight sepals, pale green to slack, brown-seamed, fermenting.

Preparing