How to peel Mosambi or a Citrus limetta

Mosambi – In India, the tendency for most people is to eat this fruit mostly when they are unwell. Mosambi juice is often given to aid faster recuperation. Also in keeping with the age old custom of offering fruits while visiting friends and family, Mosambi is a favorite. 

My earliest memories of enjoying this fruit or Oranges as they are called , dates back to the early 1950's. It was watching my Father peeling it for us, in front of us , doing it casually but carefully. We used to sit in a semi-circle around him and watch the Oranges being peeled and transformed in front of us without a single drop of juice falling on the floor. 

Mosambi is a very healthy fruit available almost all the year round and it is a welcome offer, to  someone back home after a strenuous day of work. I take pleasure in watching children enjoying the peeled fruit and swallowing them, one by one, eyeing for more. They obviously observe 'No formalities'.   

I will attempt to express the steps involved in peeling the Mosambi, as I am doing them.

How to select a good Mosambi:  Look for a shine, smoothness and thinness of the skin. Select from light yellow/green to green. The greener ones need a few days to ripen. Preferably store them in a way that does not cut of air circulation.

Seven easy steps in peeling Mosambi:

Step 1: The gadgets required are very basic and simple except for the toothed knife.

Step 2: US a little pressure to roll the Mosambi between your palms to relieve any stresses due to transportation and storage. This will activate the juice content inside and will release the thin membrane skin from the fruity sections. You will feel the effect when you do this.

Step 3: With the sharp knife, make 8 incisions all around, deep enough to penetrate the outer rind but not to touch the sections inside. Cut along the lines through the 8 incisions, one by one till the rind opens up. This requires some practice and moreover patience.

Step 4: With a sharp knife, follow along or run along the separating grooves of the sections and make the incisions deep enough but not to damage the fruit. Approx. 10 nos will come in one Mosambi.

Step 5: With a small pair of scissors, cut both ends at an angle and remove the hard edges along the center to allow easy removal of the thick outer skin. It is essential to follow this step.

Step 6: The separated edges from the corner and ends of the sections are shown below. Now, it is time to separate the skin from the sections on both sides of the section. The step above helps a lot in the process. I hope you are enjoying this so far.

Step 7: The moment of truth ?

Hope the step-by-step photographic execution of peeling of Mosambi is easy to understand and convinces you to try some on the weekend !!! :)

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I do hope you have enjoyed and now it is time to receive your comments. 

I am interested to know more about your blogs and posts.

Rangarajan Ramaswamy Bangalore 04.02.2013 03:00 pm