Garcinia Indica or Kokum(called ?bhirnda? or ?bhinda? in Konkani, ?murugala hannu? in Kannada) can be called as one of the most used ingredient in Konkani cooking.Almost every household at our native and Goa has a Kokum tree.The seeds of the fruit have a white colored fleshy coating on it.When the fruit becomes very ripe, its color changes to a bit transparent.An average kokum tree bears hundreds of fruits during summer.When they are tender, they are green in color.

As they ripen, they get the beautiful purple color.The fruits are plucked when they are ripe.The outer purple skin and the inner seeds are sun-dried separately.The skin, bhirnda sol, is used in cooking as a souring agent and the seeds are used to make bhirndel tel (kokum oil/butter).