Apparently the Greeks thought that the persimmon was a fruit of the Gods. I never even knew of this fruit till a couple of years back when I saw it at the market here. I assumed it was one of those imported types of fruit which are now available here and invariably sold at exorbitant prices.
Then last year, I bought a couple of persimmons (as I knew what they were now, thanks to blogging) to see what they tasted like. Let’s just say that I regretted my decision to buy them!
In the meanwhile, I discovered that certain varieties of persimmons tend to be astringent and quite unpalatable until they’re ripe and almost bursting. So when I saw persimmons at my market again, last month, I decided to buy a few and see if they tasted better when fully ripe. I also discovered that persimmons are native to and grown in India in the hilly regions of northern India. My fruit vendor told me the persimmons are called “Amarphal” and his lot of fruit came from Kashmir.
If the persimmon is a something new to you, as it was to us, here’s some really useful information. It seems there are two commonly available varieties of persimmons, the Fuyu (looks somewhat like a slightly flattened tomato and not really very astringent/ tart; can be eaten when ripe but still firm) and Hachiya (looks more like an acorn and is very astringent/ tart; can be eaten only when very ripe and somewhat soft)
I didn’t know what variety my persimmons were, but on closer inspection I came to the conclusion that two were Hachiya and the other two were Fuyu! It looks like both the varieties are sold together as one lot of fruit!
So I waited until the persimmons were ripe and cut one up. The Fuyus can be eaten once they start ripening and will get sweeter as they ripen. They’re great in salads. The Hachiyas have to ripen till they’re almost bursting out of their skis before they lose their unpleasantly astringent/ tart taste but when they can be unbelievably sweet. The only thing is the flesh of the Hachiya at this point is so pulpy that apart from eating it as it is there’s not too much else you can do with it.
Now this was just before we took a break, so I didn’t have too much time to spend searching for a recipe and executing it, so I took the next best and easiest way to use up the persimmons. I did what I usually do with most fruit, and that was to make a milkshake.
Spiced Persimmon Milkshake With Vanilla Ice-cream (GF)
Ingredients
- 3 persimmons very ripe Hachiya
- 500 ml milk (2% fat)
- 3 to 4 tbsps honey
- 3/4 tsp garam masala
- 4 vanilla ice cream to serve
- 4 tbsps pistachios chopped for garnishing
Instructions
- Skin and deseed (if there are seeds) the persimmons. Put the persimmon pulp, milk, honey and garam masala in a blender and blend till smooth. Refrigerate till ready to serve.
- To serve, put a scoop of the vanilla ice-cream in a tall glass. Top up with the milkshake (stir the refrigerated milkshake before pouring into glass). Garnish with chopped nuts or grated chocolate, if preferred.
- You can also blend the ice-cream with the rest of the ingredients if you prefer.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
I have never tasted/seen this fruit in real life 🙂 hence have no clue about it’s taste. Milkshake looks fab! And I loved that mug with daisies on it!
I have heard of Amarphal but never seen nor tasted. Wow !! a milkshake of it looks simply delectable. Will have to search for the fruit.
My cousin brought me these from Dharamshala or Manali or someplace in HP… we just ate them 😉
Garam masala in a milkshake and that too with ‘Persimmons’? I have seen it in US and regretted the only time I bght it.Then after throwing away the rotten ones,I googled and found persimmon cookie recipe! After that I searched everywhere high and low for these but they had vanished.I never knew they were called Amarphal or are cultivated in Kashmir.I had read FoodBlogga’s article on persimmon and its varieties.Love the post and wish I could taste the shake.I have not seen them here-will try this weekend.
I too had a bad experience with them several years ago, but when I visited Thailand, I ate them and loved them. I saw them in a store here the other day, looking like a train wreck, and the salesgirl told me it was “Japaani kai”
oh yum! i cannot say more – this is my shake!
ram masala in an ice cream..wow now thats something..well ive seen this fruit in miramar i think….i thought it was a type of tomato!!!
Ooh wow this looks beautiful!Yum!!
I don’t have too much experience with persimmons either, great idea to make a shake out of them!
I have only just eaten persimmons for the first time this last month. They’re delicious, light and fragrant. This sounds wonderful!
I love te Fuyu’s and we eat them all winter here. They are really great in Salds.Is it expensive to buy in India?
wow, with garam masala..sounds interesting!
hi aparna, I came to know about this fruit, when I came here, It is hubby’s favourite, they are quite expensive, whenever they are on offer I buy them, only once I tasted it I didn’t fancy it, hubby is happy that he can gobble everything.., their are lot of baking recipes I haven’t tried them yet, One lady here was saying that when it turns very orangish it is good to eat, I did not so many things about it, and that you can get it in India!!, thanx for all the information you have collected,
Oh I love persimmons so much! I’d love to try them in coctail as this recipe sounds and looks so great! 🙂
Wow…when I was growing up my school bus stop had a persimmon tree growing on it. This was in rural Pennsylvania. I never knew they were from India, I thought they grew everywhere. My mom used to pick them up and eat them like an apple. I never had the nerve to taste one though!
Looks like I’m not the only one with a bad experience when it comes to persimmons!Sweatha, my buying this fruit led me to a lot of discoveries too! :)A Japaani kai looking like a train wreck! Sra, you’re too much. LOLThey were selling this at Miramar, Sheba? Where?I’ve seen it only at the market.Yes B. They’re bit on the expensive side here.
A persimmon wave seems to have flown through while I was away. How so? Lol after reading your review, I’m not too inclined to try it! 😛
Oh, i love persimmons…….When they are raw or not completely ripe, they have such and odd taste and they stick to our teeth and gum….Eeeww….But the ripe ones….yuuummm…there wud be no leftovers for making juice….!!BTW, loved the pic..and the background is too good……was wondering whats that…Did u use a gift wrapper or something for the background?I JUST LOVED IT…
Avanika, persimmns aren’t too bad. Just make sure they’re really ripe! :)Shabs,the background is just handmade textured paper, which is what I tend to use in a lotof my pictures. 🙂 Thanks.
You have lovely recipes…. & fab pics, but navigating the site is sooooo tough… may I suggest a search button to search thru recipes…?
Persimmons are also known as Ramphal, i love them for the name only (but only when ripe-which takes time and patience)love the garam masala touch
Our neighbors have a persimmon tree, but we have always known the fruit as ‘Amloke’, not amarphal. We love the fruit, and always look forward to our share of the produce.
Aparna, these fruit in the fall here in California.I don’t care for the Hachiyas but love the firm-textured Fuyus and Jiros – reminiscent of sapotas (chikoos). The tree is quite pretty, sometimes you can see the bright orange fruit hanging on the trees when all the leaves have fallen. Will try your milk shake next fall when they become available again.
Thanks for all that persimmon info.Anon,You can navigate my site and recipes using the small categorised pictures on the left had side column. They will take you to an itemised list of recipes on my blog.
Today a shopkeeper give me a lot of frozen persimmon with my purchased items. I was thinking what can l do with those, suddenly it comes to my mind that I can make milkshake, that’s why I am interested to know about it’s preparation, hope it will be nice.