Elephant Apple (O’ Tenga) and Tea! Now that’s a flavour to look forward to. I am simply wondering how nice a twist that will add to the already much-loved essence of tea. For the people of Assam, we are all too familiar with the astringent, flavourful taste of “O’ Tenga” or Elephant apple as it is more commonly known. But to blend it with tea would really be something, wouldn’t it, even the thought of which makes my mouth water! People from Assam would most definitely relate to it, for O’ Tenga has been resting on our vegetable shelves for as long as anyone could remember. See! I almost called it a vegetable myself, as most of us Assamese do. But in truth, O’ Tenga is a fruit, and a very delectable one at that.
How did this large, globous fruit with a greenish-yellow crust and a spongy, white, flesh within came to be called the elephant apple? As the name itself suggests, this fruit is a major favourite amongst elephants. Elephant apple is distributed throughout Southeast Asia, thriving in the river valleys of the state of Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha and West Bengal. For regions that are home to elephants, Elephant Apple is a must find, thriving greatly in the wild.
When it comes to food, the northeastern states of India with its many different communities, have their own cuisines that are unique to them. A lot of those cuisines have remained unexposed to the other parts of the country, with very few who have actually had the fortune of knowing and tasting them. O’Tenga has been used across communities from time immemorial to prepare different dishes, leveraging its unique tanginess and astringent taste. Consumed both in their ripe and unripe forms, it is quite often added to “dal” to give it a very flavourful, tangy twist. It is used widely in a number of Assamese cuisines. A popular dish is adding of O’ Tenga to “mati mahor dali” (more popularly known as urad dal)- a taste to absolutely savour. “O’ Tenga re maas” (a tangly fish curry with added slices of elephant apple) served with hot streamed rice is a delicious delicacy that is guaranteed to make every Axomia’s mouth water. Cooked with very little spices, the cuisines made with O’ Tenga are simple, yet scrumptious. The Chayi’s soon-to-be the new addition to its already rich list of tea inventory is the O’ Tenga Tea. The Chayi’s team is all set to launch this new tea, experimenting with newer flavours and taking up newer challenges. With the much-loved flavours of O’ Tenga, this new product is really something to look forward to. To all those living in Assam, or the ones who are away, the taste of O’ Tenga is associated with a lot of memories, when, most moms or dads beseeched their unwilling children to try one bite of the tangy fruit until they acquired the taste and never really turned back. The Chayi’s peculiar new O ‘Tenga Tea is sure to invoke some of those memories, gently wafting out from all its winding flavourings.
Buy our Elephant Apple Green Tea here.
