Turkey Berry
In many South Indian homes, the gentle crackle of Turkey Berries hitting hot oil signals the beginning of a comforting meal. In my grandmother’s kitchen, a handful of these tiny green spheres would be fried until they burst slightly. She would always remind us that the bitterness was ‘good for the body’— a small dose of medicine disguised as food.
—- Uttara, Tamil Nadu
What is it?
Solanum torvum, commonly known as Turkey Berry, is a bushy, spiny, perennial shrub. Its fruits, resembling green peas, grow in dense clusters. These berries are thin-fleshed and contain numerous flat, round, brown seeds. Often sun-dried for preservation, they impart a slightly bitter flavour to soups, curries, and stews.
It is a wild, weedy, and spreading shrub that can grow up to five metres in height. The plant is characterised by broad-based, hooked spines that occur along the stems, branches, and the veins of its simple, lobed leaves. Juvenile leaves are stalked, whole, and develop singly, later becoming lobed as the plant matures.
The inflorescence forms a compact, branched corymb (a flower cluster) that may contain up to 100 flowers. The flowers possess both male and female parts, are five-petalled, and pale white in colour. The fruit is a globose berry, approximately 1.5 centimetres in diameter. When unripe, it is smooth, shiny, and green, turning yellow upon ripening. Each berry contains numerous disc-shaped brown seeds, which exhibit dormancy.
What other names does it have?
Botanical Name: Solanum torvum
Regional Names: Wild eggplant, Prickly nightshade, Devil’s fig, Pea eggplant (English), Bhankatiya, Bhurat (Hindi), Marang (Marathi), Sundakkayi (Kannada), Anachunda, Chunda Parachund (Malayalam), Sundaikai (Tamil), Kottuvastu (Telugu).
When is it in season?
Where is it found?
Turkey Berry is a traditional vegetable that is widely used even today. Unlike most cultivated vegetables, it grows best in the wild. It thrives in full sunlight and can tolerate some shade, but it does not survive under dense forest cover where light is limited.
The plant is also valued for its medicinal properties in many tropical and subtropical regions. It is commonly found growing as a weed along roadsides, in pastures, agricultural fields, and wastelands. Highly adaptable, it can grow in various soil types, including sandy, loamy, and clay soils. Source
What is its history/cultural significance?
Turkey Berry is a self-pollinating perennial species that reproduces without requiring pollen from another plant. It is a diploid organism, meaning it has two complete sets of chromosomes. The plant is native to India and is commonly found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the country, particularly in southern India, the Himalayan foothills, and north-eastern India. However, some studies have also identified the West Indies and tropical America as possible centres of origin. Globally, the species is distributed across many tropical regions, including the Indian subcontinent, China, the Americas, the West Indies, South-East Asia, and the Mascarene and Pacific Islands. In several countries, it is classified as a noxious weed due to its strong invasive potential. Source.
How can you use it?
The fruit of the Turkey Berry is commonly fried whole in oil or ghee. It is used in a wide range of dishes, including curries, gravies, stir-fries, pickles, chutneys, soups, stews, sauces, sambals, fried snacks, stuffed preparations, and rice-based dishes. The berry requires a specific process of cleaning and preparation before cooking. When selecting Turkey Berries, it is best to pick those that are green, soft, and have a thin skin. They are typically found growing in dense clusters. To clean them, the stalks are first removed, after which the berries may be lightly crushed to enhance flavour absorption during cooking.
What states can I find it in?
What parts of the plant are edible?
Berry
Is it nutritious?
The Turkey Berry is rich in calcium, iron, phosphorus, beta-carotene, vitamin C, antioxidants, and solasodine. Source
How do you store it?
Fresh Turkey Berries can be stored in the refrigerator and will stay fresh for up to a week. If they need to be preserved for longer, they are either sun-dried or pickled, both of which can extend their shelf life significantly.
Recipes:
Vatha Kuzhambu Recipe by Dassana Amit
‘Know Your Desi Ingredients’ is an ever-expanding repository of knowledge for ingredients that are native to the Indian subcontinent and adapted into the mainstream culinary narratives of people, places, and cultures across India. If you would like to share more information about the write-ups featured here, send us an email at connect@thelocavore.in with your inputs and any verified sources we should look into.
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