The Cool Spice

BRINDA GILL helps you beat the post-monsoon with the cooling goodness of kokum.

The sun is warm, the sands are powder soft, the waters are blue, and lure is irresistible. Stretches of pristine palm-fringed beaches along the Konkan coastline and Goa present a prize catch. Adding to the sea vistas are undulating slopes covered with kokum and cashew groves. And capturing a whiff of this beautiful land are food and drink specialities flavoured with kokum as well as skin products made with kokum butter.

Wellness from Within

Native to the Western Ghats—both coastal and inland— kokum is a slender evergreen tree, with branches thick with leaves. The tree bears flowers from November to February, and come summer it bears round green fruit that ripens to a deep pink-purple colour, sour taste and a bundle of goodness, specially vitamin C.