What is the Buddha's hand, where can you find a plant with such an interesting name? The chemical composition and beneficial properties of the fruit, contraindications for use. Cooking use and interesting facts about citron. The Buddha's hand has another useful property - the peel and leaves are used for protective purposes. The scent repels insects - mosquitoes, gnats and moths. It is enough to soak your clothes with a scent, and you can sleep peacefully on a sultry day without fear of fly bites, or walk in the tropical forest without harm to your health.
Harm and contraindications to the use of the Buddha's hand
The Buddha's hand belongs to citrus fruits and, like all fruits of this group, can be a strong allergen. If you are allergic to any citrus fruits, this fruit should not be consumed.
Also, the contraindications to using the Buddha's hand are as follows:
- Digestive disorders, regardless of etiology.
- Low blood pressure.
- Rehabilitation process after diseases of the gastrointestinal tract of infectious etiology - dysentery, typhoid fever, etc.
It is not advisable to prepare the Buddha's hand for people suffering from bronchial asthma, lung diseases or bronchial obstruction. Too strong aroma of a ripe fruit can provoke a severe attack with temporary respiratory failure.
Recipes with Buddha's hand
Fresh hand of the Buddha is rarely eaten, since the pulp is dry and the taste is more bitter than that of other citrus fruits. But the zest of the peel is often added to dishes as a seasoning, and the fruit itself is used as a semi-finished product for the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. Culinary experts in China and India make dishes from the fruit itself, and not only desserts.
If you still want to try, then the dish will turn out to be a successful one only with the right choice of the fruit. There should be no spots or discoloration on the peel - this is an indication of the beginning of decay. You need to judge the quality of the fruit by the peel - it should be dense, despite its natural relief, and when pressed with a finger, a feeling of oiliness remains. Recipes with Buddha's hand:
- Porridge … It is prepared not only as a hearty tonic breakfast, but also introduced into a therapeutic diet for diseases of the stomach and spleen. 200 g of round granular quick-cooking rice is poured over with cold water for 10 minutes and set aside for now. Pieces of zedrate are boiled, without removing the peel, in boiling water, pouring so much water that in the future it will be enough to cook rice. The peel is removed from the liquid, and washed rice is placed in the water, boiled until tender. Crystal sugar, salt or honey are added to improve the taste.
- Candied Citron Peel … The peel of the fruit is removed, washed clean, cut with "fingers". Spread in a saucepan, pour cold water and put on high heat to boil as quickly as possible - cook with a strong boil for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water, put it back in a saucepan and bring it to a boil again. Immediately add a teaspoon to 2 liters of water, and boil again for 10 minutes. Washed out. The boiling and salting procedure is repeated 1-2 more times - this helps to remove the bitterness. Then sugar syrup is boiled - water-sugar 1 to 2. The citron peel is dipped into the syrup, brought to a boil and left over low heat until the syrup thickens so much that the "fingers" will form a single whole. Just before turning off, add citric acid, focusing on your own taste, and spread the candied fruits on a sieve to remove excess sugar. Do not leave to drain - they can stick together. Distribute one at a time, and then roll in granulated sugar and leave to dry.
- Lemonade … To make lemonade, you need to combine citron with sweet orange. To make lemonade, the citron skin is peeled, trying to remove the white skin from the inside. They also try to remove more films from the pulp and completely clean out the seeds. Dry the peel and pieces of citron - you can blot it with a paper towel, since the fruit is already low-juiced, knead everything in a blender, adding a little water. Then put the pan on low heat, bring to a boil, add sugar, let it boil for 5 minutes. When the liquid has cooled, orange juice is poured into it and cooled in the refrigerator. Citron lemonade is less sweet than the usual citrus and is a good thirst quencher.
- Jam … Ingredients for the dish: ginger root, peel from one citron, juice of 1 lemon or orange, granulated sugar - 200-300 g. The ginger root is washed, rubbed on a coarse grater, and poured with cold water. The citron rind is cut into ribbons, after removing the white fibers from the inside, rolled up and also poured with cold water. All bowls are left in a cold place for 3 days, changing the water periodically. This is necessary to remove the bitterness. Together, the components of the future jam are not soaked, in the future the taste will be spoiled. After 3 days, all the components are laid out in a basin in which the jam will be cooked, covered with sugar and cooked. Bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, set aside until it cools. The readiness of the jam is checked in the same way as the fruit jam - the syrup should freeze in a drop on the nail or spoon. At the last boil, pour in lemon or orange juice.
- Drink "Health" … The Buddha's fingers are cut across and dried in the shade. Brewed like tea.
- Dressing for dressing dishes … A little vegetable oil, salt, crushed garlic, thyme, a little lemon juice are added to fresh crushed citron peels, beat in a blender until completely homogeneous. Put in the refrigerator overnight. Suitable for dressing any salad or hot dish.
The taste of citron dressing is paired with tomato and red pepper salad, rice and beans. You can combine citron with cocoa and chocolate, use as an ingredient in sauces with rice and soy vinegar, white wine, maple syrup, olive and coconut oil.
Dishes from the Buddha's hand should be eaten with caution - they clearly reduce blood pressure.
Interesting facts about the hand of Buddha
The spread of the Buddha's hand can be traced by its numerous names. In Corsica - Corsican lemon or Corsican, in Sicily - Diamond or Sicilian citron, in Thailand - som-mu, in Japan - bushukon, in China - fu-show, in Indonesia - dhiruk tangan, in Vietnam - fat-thu. Liamau lingtang kerat, Jerek tangan or limeau yari in Malaysia and spindle-shaped citron, Buddha's hand, Buddha's fingers or Ethrog in Israel. Not surprisingly, the banana-like fruit attracts attention.
The exact origin of this citron variety has not yet been clarified. The seeds were found in the cultural layer during excavations in Mesopotamia, the time of the origin of the cultural layer is dated 4000 BC. The earliest Jewish coins had an image of the hand of Buddha on one side.
200 years BC. the plant began to grow in Palestine, and in the 3rd century AD. the seeds were brought to Italy. The Spaniards began cultivating crops in 1640, and in America, by 1900, they began to actively plant a plant for industrial purposes. Due to severe frosts, the plantations were seriously damaged, and in 1913 the project was abandoned.
The plant can still be found in the wild in the northern regions of India.
The Buddha's hand is closest in quality to pomelo and tangerines. Currently, in California, one fruit is priced at 10 euros - for this price you can buy 5 kg of lemons. The Buddha's hands of the court are imported from Australia, although plants can be grown in this area. However, for some reason they do not have their divine scent.
It is interesting that this citrus does not smell like the smell of freshness familiar to our noses, but of violets. That is why perfumers appreciate it so much - it is much easier to extract the violet extract from the hand of Buddha than from flowers.
In China, it is customary to grow a mini-plant on a windowsill - it is believed that such a bonsai brings good luck. It is customary to exchange dwarf fruits on the Chinese New Year. Buddhists introduce this fruit into many religious ceremonies.
What the hand of Buddha looks like - watch the video:
If you're lucky, you can bring such a bonsai to your apartment - the main thing is that it is warm. The mini-fruit retains all the beneficial properties of a large fruit, cleans the air of the home from harmful viruses and bacteria that saturate it, and is a natural flavoring agent.
