What are the origins of using fresh fruit as a condiment to curry?

Question

Fruit salads, including papaya, banana, pineapple, etc is found as a condiment to curries in some countries, eg East Africa, some Gulf states. Arose from a colonial era, and maybe due to shortages of ingredients to make authentic condiments. Am curious as to the origins & would be gr8 to know if any background to this development.

Answer 1

fresh fruits(usually unripe) is used when there was a shortage of meat or if the meat price was too high...usually it was serve by really poor rural people...

cos fruits are grown in the backyard and comes in plentiful .. thus it is used rather than spending money on meat!

in Indian , middle Asian , south east Asia and even china it is common to used fruits in curries and meals ...it dates back since the beginning of their times...

HOW did it became popular? when meat was scarce, super expensive and not available to everyone...times of war, unrest and famine...

Answer 2

These are usually fresh fruit salads with probably a little chaat masala, use to cleanse the palate & add a little cool refreshing bite between curries & subjis.  This is esp seen in humid tropical countries where fruit is abundant, cheap & available year round.

Answer 3

Some fruits can actually help to 'cool' your mouth if the curry is too spicy for you to take. And it helps to reduce the effects of spicy food in the stomach, otherwise you may really feel you've a volcano inside, especially when the time comes to do waste disposal!

In fact, there are fruit curries where fruits like jackfruit or pineapple are the main ingredient in the curry instead of meat, veggies or seafood.

Answer 4

CHUTNEY:

Fresh fruit chutnies were developed as a way to preserve fruit.  

Chutneys are a delicious Indian condiment. The word “chutney” is actually a British term derived from the Hindi word “chatni”, meaning, “to crush”. They are very popular all over India and are quite simple to make.

Chutneys come in a wide range of bold and exciting flavors ranging from spicy to sweet, savory, tangy and even sour. They also vary in textures depending upon the ingredients used and their preparation. There are two main types of chutneys: fresh and preserved and they can either be wet or dry in nature. Regardless, fresh home made chutneys will always add an exotic Indian touch to any meal.

Chutney (British spelling) or chatni (Urdu, Hindi, Bengali or Tamil transliteration) is a term for a variety of sweet and spicy condiments, originally from the Indian subcontinent. Chutney, as a genre, is often similar to the Indian pickle and the salsa of Latin American cuisine, or European relish insofar as it usually involves a fresh, chopped primary vegetable/fruit with seasonings added, to be used as a condiment for another food.

Chutney may be dry or wet; dry chutney is generally in the form of powder. In India, a chutney is often made to be eaten fresh, using whatever suitable strongly flavoured ingredients are locally traditional or available at the time. It would not normally contain preserving agents, since it is intended to be consumed soon after preparation. The Hindi translation of "to make chutney" is a common idiom meaning "to crush". This is because the process of making chutney often involves the crushing together of the ingredients.[citation needed]

The use of a stone mortar and pestle is often regarded as vital to create the ideal chutney. It consists of a small stone bowl (called a "kharal" or "khal" in Hindi), or a flat piece of stone (called a "sil") on which the ingredients are crushed together with a rounded stick of stone or wood (called a "batta", pronounced with a hard 't').

Chutney is more familiar in North America and Europe in a form that can be stored. To this end, vegetable oil, vinegar, or lemon juice are used to enhance the keeping properties.

Beginning in the 1600 chutneys were shipped to European countries like England and France as luxury goods. Western imitations were called "mangoed" fruits or vegetables. In the nineteenth century, brands of chutney like Major Grey's or Bengal Club created for Western tastes were shipped to Europe.

Generally these chutneys are fruit, vinegar and sugar cooked down to a reduction.

The tradition of chutney making spread throughout the British empire, especially in the Caribbean and American South where chutney is still a popular condiment for ham, pork and fish.