Thambili, the miracle fruit!

Escaping the Sri Lankan heat on a warm day can be quite tricky if you don’t have the comfort of an air conditioned room or vehicle, but in most places in Sri Lanka, there is always a ready solution in the form of an orange coloured fruit.

While the colour orange can be attributed to the refreshing fruit the orange in the Western world, In Sinhala (Sri Lanka’s predominant dialect)  the colour orange is ‘thambili’ and can be attributed to the most refreshing fruit in Sri Lanka, Thambili –also known as the King coconut.

The fruit while being known as one of the most refreshing is also used as a remedy to many ailments amongst Sri Lankans.

Thambili water is so naturally sterile that during World War 2, both Japanese and American military doctors used Thambili water as a substitute for intravenous sterile glucose solutions.

Stop over at a thambili stall and watch as the vendor skillfully carves the thambili and hands it to you (sometimes with  a straw). It’s not all over one you finish drinking it. Hand the empty thambili back to the vendor, and he will in turn split it and carve out a spoon from the outer shell in a matter of seconds so that you can now enjoy the soft gelatinous inside of this wonder fruit.