Governor's Plum

Flacourtia indica · Fruit

40 pairings

The governor's plum, also called Indian plum, Madagascar plum or ramontchi (Flacourtia indica), is a small, round, glossy maroon-to-purple-black berry of a thorny shrub or small tree grown across Africa, India and Southeast Asia. Sharply tart with a sweet, plum-like finish and a faintly astringent skin, it is eaten out of hand when fully ripe and, more commonly, cooked down into jams, jellies, chutneys and pickles or fermented into wine.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Deep red, firmColoured but still tart, the skin astringent. The stage that survives a journey, and the one jam, jelly, chutney and pickle actually want.Cook with it

ColourEven deep red, the skin glossy

SqueezeFirm, the faintest give under a thumb

Stem endShort stalk still on, dry where it broke

SmellFaint and sharp, more acid than fruit

Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.

Preparing