Fruits of Uttarakhand

plum 

Uttarakhand having agriculture as the main part of economy is amongst the largest producers of seasonal fruits, one of such season fruit is plum. Plum is a tomato sized fruit which is sweet as well as sours in taste with mouth-watering aroma.

In Uttarakhand generally victoria and green variety of plums are cultivated between the months of May and September. The fruit is a big berry with juicy pulp and a hard seed in center. Plums are fleshy and delicious. A placed named Mukteshwar in Nainital is famous for its plum orchids.

Strawberry

Strawberry is a very delicious fruit with a musing aroma. This fruit is a great source of iron and is generally consumed raw. Strawberry is a red colored juicy fruit with sweet taste. The best thing about the fruit is that it can be grown in any season. Uttarakhand is indulged in the cultivation of strawberries for commercial purpose. Strawberry grows well in temperate climate and Uttarakhand is blessed with such pleasant climate.

Ramgarh in Nainital District is famous as orchid hub and is involved in the plantation of strawberry. Even Chajji district is having a boosted cultivation of strawberry as the climate of place is the same as required for the fruit cultivation.

Strawberry can be seen in Nainital and can be purchased from the road side sellers. There are many shops in Nainital and other Hill Stations of Uttarakhand offering freezed ripen strawberries which add a chilly touch to the great flavor of the fruit.

Hisalu

Most of the Uttarakhand is mountain and is blessed with variety of fruits among them wild fruits play a major role as they serve as the free energy packets for the people travelling mountains as they can be find everywhere, one of such fruit is Hisalu(wild fruit berry).

Hisalu is a yellow colored small fruit which can be found mostly in summers in both Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. The taste of hisalu makes one to wonder as it is difficult to say hisalu taste better or nectar!

Earlier hisalu used to ripen in the month of May and June but due to climatic variations the ripening season of hisalu changed to March and April. Hisalu are available in area like Nainital, Bhimtal, and Almora. Even you can purchase the fruit from the road side sellers.

Kafal

Kafal or Kaphal also known as Myrica esculenta is a tastiest wild fruit of Kumaon region of Utarakhand. The fruit is sweet in taste and has a many stories connected with it.

One of the many stories connected says there was a lady and her daughter who used to sell kafal, they were too buzy in the unending process of reaping, winnowing, sowing and weeding of the fruit that the girl used to think when will she be able to taste the fruit. One day the lady asked her daughter to look after the fruits and not to taste them but when she returned she saw that the basket is not of the same weight now and she thought her daughter has eaten them up and beated her badly. The little girl cried and said she didn’t taste them. Later the lady understood that due to the summer heat kafal lost weight and when it will rain they will gain weight but it was too late the girl was died now.

It is believed that the girl after death became a bird called Magpie and comes back every year when the fruit ripens in the jungles of Himalaya in the months of April, May and June and sings “kafal pakko meil ni chakkho” which means kafal fruit is ripened now but I didn’t taste them.

kafal represents season change, kafal is the last tasty fruit of spring before the entry of harsh summer. It is found mainly in tourists places like Nainital, Pauri, Jaiharikhal and generally the villagers sitting road side sell it for Rs.100 or Rs.200 per kg.