Velvet tamarind
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Velvet tamarind (Dalium cochinchinense or Dialium indum Linn) is a tall, tropical, fruit-bearing tree, native to southern Thailand and Malaysia. It belongs to the Leguminosae family, and has small, typically grape-sized edible fruits with brown hard inedible shells. Due to its valued hard and compact wood, it is a threatened species, with its habitat being encroached upon by logging and human settlement. No reports of cultivation exist, information on propagation is limited.
The flavor of the fruit is similar to tamarind, where it derives its English name. In Thai, it is called "Luk Yee" or "Yee", and in Malaysia it goes by the name of "Keranji". The fruit is used as a candy-like snack food in Thailand, often dried, sugar-coated and spiced with chili. The dried fruit has a powdery texture, and is orange in color with a tangy flavor.
Each fruit typically has one hard, flat, round, brown seed, typically 7-8 millimeters across and 3 millimeters thick. The seed somewhat resembles a watermelon seed (Citrullus lanatus). Some have two seeds. The seeds are shiny, coated with a thin layer of starch.
