I thought at first they were some new weeds, so was looking forward to some pretty tiny flowers I havent seen before. Then as they grew bigger, they resembled a lot like chilli plants, they even have blooms just like chillies but only tinier and yellow in colour. Completely forgotten about them much later until one day I saw small dangling fruits looking just like our local Chinese lanterns! They are paper thin and some have turned yellowish. I remembered seeing these in a few blogs and googled to find out more about them. Lol...they are called TOMATILLO! Pronouced as 'toe-mah-TEE-yo'. I was surprised but delighted indeed they can grow here and in my garden!
a ripe and unripe tomatilos
green tomatillos dangling like lanterns
I was curious when I felt that inside the paper thin outside covering called husk, is a small lump, so to see whats inside I tear the husk and...a small tiny fruit!
......with tiny seeds inside, though I havent tasted it yet...
the plants looking so much like chillies though the stems are softer not like chillies which are woody
the tiny yellow flowers
The tomatillo is called the husk tomato or green tomato by the Mexican and a staple ingredient in Mexican cuisine in making their green salsa sauce. It gives a tarty flavour to the sauce. Though called green tomato, it shouldnt be confused with the unripe normal tomato which is of the same family but of different genus. I dont know what to do with my harvest of these new fascinating vegetables in my garden. Should I cook them in my curry and stew or just toss them in my salad?
I guess you can never trust whats in the seed packets you sow!
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12 comments:
Never seen the real plant but familiar with the name. Also don't no what to do with this 'veggie', but sound so good to be 'ulam' with 'sambal belacan' ;)
I never thought this fruit/flower is edible, not until now.
Tell me more after your have tasted it.
boleh makan ke buah ni? kecik2 dulu slalu jumpa main tiup2..
Looking forward to read how you used them. I heard about it but never grow it myself.
Maybe Makrimi its nice to eat with sambal belacan as you said since its like the tomato.
Have you seen the plant before Rainfield? Its my first time Ive seen one.
Maria, mungkin ke serupa, akak ingat yg tu dia jenis memanjat like a vine bukan pokok macam ni.
Diana, its something new, so must try it and will let you know..
Hi kak....just wanna thank u for droppping by and following my blog..:)
buah tu nmpk mcm terung pipit la kat dlm bulat2 tu hehehe
I have seen them before but didn't know if it's edible! DO update on what dish you cook ok! ;)
Selamat berpuasa!
Hangkebon terung pipit tak bersarong macam tu, ni dalam dia macam tomato yg sangat kecik..tu yang dia orang panggil Mexican tomato.
Malar, thank you. Will definitely try it out.
People also called this ground cherry or cape gooseberry. I bought some seeds from the internet and sowed some too but belum ada bayang...
This summer my neighbor planted about 30 tomatillo plants in my garden and just as many in his. He is Mexican and his wife is the best cook. These wonderful little tomatoes make wonderful chili sauce. I bake them till soft & bubbly, put them in the blender, add garlic & salt and add roasted dry red peppers. Don't put too many red peppers....it is hot. The next day it will be much milder. You can also just make green chili and it's great too. Also, there are recipes out there for salad dressing. These plants are huge producers.
Thank you Milka for the info. I guess Im luck that they appeared out of nowhere!
Thank you so much for the useful information and your recipe Kathleen, must try that!
This plant is a very useful plant. A family friend cooked the whole plant with chicken and they said it's good for the kidney. My niece who is with kidney problem also advised to take this plant (cooked with kampong chicken). During my childhood, we have this plant in our family orchard. We just put the ripe fruits in our mouth.. it taste sour+sweet :)
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