Growing today in the balcony, the sight of these berries can take me back to my misspent or maybe well-spent childhood. The berries are absolutely scrumpicilicious; more tangy than sweet and used to grow in large clumps in Vandalur. We children used to eat them whole and unwashed, while some of our enterprising neighbours would pick the berries, soak them in curd and dry them out in the sun for “manathakalli vathal.” Also used to make every bite flavourful, when used in vatha kulzahmbu.
Its been many years since I ate mannathakalli, and it made me hanker after other childhood favourites, which I find difficult to source in urban Bangalore like — water chestnuts, gorkapulli, berrica, roasted bamboo shoots, lotus roots.#berries #mannathakalli
மண்ணதக்காளி Mannathakalli berries (nightshade)
July 26, 2018 by Rachel Chitra
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