The primary school I studied was 3.5 kilometers away from my home. I went to school on foot. On the way to school, I had different experiences in different seasons. The experience during the spring was related to sour because there were severe sour Jujube trees (বরই গাছ) beside the road and me and my friends threw lump of soil secretly to those Jujube trees. Most of the time we failed to get jujube because the owner of the trees came out with a stick hear the sound of the falling Jujube and we ran away. I think many South Asian local guides who grew up in the villages had this sweet-sour childhood experience.
[A jujube tree in my village]
[Mixed Jujube: sour when green and sweet when ripe]
Bangladesh is a land of fruits and flowers. Round the year various kinds of fruits are found here. I think Jujube is the most common and popular fruit during spring in Bangladesh. During this time this fruit dominates the local fruit market for more than one month. Some other fruits are also found this time but not huge and variations as the Jujube. The price of this fruit is also always in the grip of the common people. I think the same situation is in India and Sri Lanka.
[Sweet Jujube]
[This is called coconut Jujube for its coconut shape]
During my childhood most of the Jujube we ate were sour. We ate them with salt and green pepper. Sweet Jujube was rare at that time and if any house has a sweet Jujube tree that house became very popular during this time. People went to that house tried to get the favor of the sweet Jujube tree owner. But at present, we can see various kinds of Jujube in the market. Most of them are very sweet. Many hybrid Jujubes are found in the local market. Sour Jujubes are getting rare day by day as they do not have enough demand in the market.
[This is called Apple Jujube as it gets apple-like color when ripe]
We eat Jujube in various ways. Basically, we start eating Jujube at an early stage, I mean when they are small and green. The interesting thing, sour Jujube has more variation to eat than sweet Jujube. Normally, we eat sweet Jujube like other fruits e.g apple or orange. But let’s see below how we can eat sour Jujube.
[Mashed Jujube]
The first and most popular way of eating sour Jujube is Mashed Jujube. Women like to eat sour jujube this way most. Take some sour jujube, wash them properly then crush them with stone. After crushing mix salt, green chili, and coriander leaves. You can make mouth-watering mashed jujube this way very easily.
[Homemade ripe Jujube pickles]
[Homemade dried Jujube pickles]
[Jujube pickles selling commercially ]
You can make pickles with Jujube and preserve them for a long time to eat later. You can make pickles by following your own recipe. Very recently we made Jujube pickle at home. You need sour jujube to make pickle. Recipe in short: take ripe sour jujube, wash them properly. Boil some water and Jaggery together, then mix some spices e.g bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, salt etc. After mixing them well give the washed Jujube in that mix and stir for 15 minutes so that they can mix nicely together. This way you make pickles at home. Please see the video below to know how we made the Jujube pickle at home. Jujube pickles are also sold in super shops and street shops commercially.
[Drying Jujube inside a net under the sun at my balcony]
[Dried Jujebe]
Dried Jujube also popular in Bangladesh. You can buy them in the local market or you make them yourself very easily. Sour Jujube is also popular for making dried Jujube. You need half or full ripe Jujube. Then put them inside a net or in an open pot and then keep them under the sun for several days. You can make pickles with dried Jujube also. Sometimes my mother uses dried Jujube in lentils and in some curries to give it a sour taste.
. We also love this. Nowadays we have many variations of this fruit and now available everywhere in Bangladesh. The price is also reasonable. We try to eat them every day. Thanks for the info about digestion. And many thanks for your nice comments. Stay safe.
