Can Anyone (Fig)ure Out This Fruit?

Snigdha: This looks similar to a fruit back home in Jharkhand, but I can’t remember the name.

Ishan: They’re called umbar in Marathi.

Shweta: And gular in Hindi.

PS: Are they Indian figs? They used to grow wild behind my grandfather’s house in Dumdum, Kolkata. I grew up eating them in curry.

Vanya: Monkeys love them! The fruit has great nutrients, especially for energy needs, and they make for delicious soft kebabs. Also, the bark keeps away mosquitoes. There’s a lot of these around Gurudwara Rakabganj.

PS: Bengalis are very fond of this—we call it dumur (pronounced ‘doomoor’). My grandfather made us eat them for their medicinal and healing properties. As a child, I was mostly sick, and ate a lot of dumurer jhol.