Game time: name a fruit - Page 8

Water Chestnut
(singhada, songoda)
Fresh: The fresh water chestnut isn't a fruit, but a knobby vegetable with a
soft, spongy stem that grows in the marshes. It has a firm green skin that is
easy to snap off with the meekest of hands. The inside is white, tender, and has
a watery yet crunchy core. When dried, singhadas are ground to a flour to make bread.

Boiled: Boiled water chestnuts have a chalky taste, while the
texture can vary from tender to very firm. When it is boiled with a pinch of hirakasi, a type of vegetable dye, it
attains a dark black rind. This is done mostly for cosmetic value without
affecting the water chestnut's taste, because plain boiled water chestnuts
attain an unappetizing, moldy brown color. The boiled variety is more
extensively available than the fresh variety.