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Goraka (Garcinia cambogia)

Bark and pods

Goraka (Garcinia cambogia)

Garcinia gummi-gutta

Dried, smoked segments of a Garcinia fruit that give Sri Lankan fish ambul thiyal its dark, sour tang.

Also called: garcinia cambogia, gamboge, malabar tamarind, kudampuli, fish tamarind

Around the world: ගොරකා (si) · kudampuli (ml) · kodampuli (ta)

  • Fruity & sour
  • Smoky & roasted
  • No heat
Buying & storing1 recipes

Photo: Vssun at ml.wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Flavour and aroma

sour, smoky, slightly astringent. Sour and slightly smoky.

Heat
No heat
Forms
dried, whole

How to use it

  • soak

    Rinse, then soak 2–4 pieces in a little warm water for 10–15 minutes. Tear into pieces and add with the water at the start of a fish curry, so it simmers in.

  • grind · Dry grinding technique

    For ambul thiyal, soaked goraka is ground into a paste with pepper and other spices.

  • Ground with pepper into fish ambul thiyal
  • Added to Kerala fish curries (meen curry)
  • Simmered with meat and vegetable curries

Identifying good quality

Hard, black, shrivelled segments. They should smell smoky and sour, with no mould.

  • Not to be confused with Kokum: Kokum is purple and softer, used in the Konkan.

Origin and history

Origin: South India and Sri Lanka.. Grown and used: Grown in Sri Lanka and Kerala, where it is called kudampuli..

Goraka (Garcinia gummi-gutta, also called Garcinia cambogia) is sun-dried and smoked into black segments. It is the souring agent of Sri Lankan fish ambul thiyal and of Kerala's red fish curry, cooked in clay pots.

Well documented

Recipes with goraka (garcinia cambogia)