Mouthful of juicy, sweet and crunchy bits, ‘love apples’ or water apples as they are most popularly known are one of the most underrated fruits during the summer. The lesser-known fruit, unfortunately, often gets lost in translation as people confuse them with apples due to the homonym. However, there is a lot more to the fruit than just being called ‘love apples’ or ‘jaams’ colloquially in Mumbai. The fruits are usually available in light green, red or pink colours and are extremely juicy and refreshing due to its high amount of water content. They are often eaten plain, as most people including this writer remember gorging on them while growing up in Mumbai. While not everybody had the luxury of the tree, many afternoons were spent plucking them off the trees from neighbour’s gardens, only to be chased by them while managing to balance the spoils in your T-shirt that acted as a makeshift basket. But beyond those summer days, why isn’t the fruit as popular as mangoes during this time of the year?

Every year, Indians boast of mangoes and the many dishes that are made by every community around the country. While they are sweet and savoury and delicious, they manage to always take the spotlight as watermelons and other fruits also find their way on the menu. However, there is not much mentioned about the humble yet brightly coloured love apples or water apples as they are more popularly known in different parts of the city and country. In fact, this writer has hardly seen them on menus of the city. Even if they are there, they aren’t boasted about like the royal yellow fruit but there are still Mumbaikars who make them most of them as soon as they appear in their gardens.