Fruit is a staple in Punjabi diets, providing essential vitamins and nutrients. On this page, you’ll learn the names of fruits in the Punjabi language, which is spoken by over 113.5 million people across India and Pakistan.
Minnows are a winter treat in Punjab, frequently featured in popular dishes like Fruit Chaat and Kinnow di Khheer. Packed full of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber to promote immunity and heart health benefits, Kinnows are one of Punjab’s must-try winter delicacies!
Mango
Fruit is an integral part of Punjabi culture, from delicious snacks to family dinners. Their wide array of nutrients promotes health while uniting people. From breakfast cereals and fruit smoothies to delightful dessert toppings, fruits make an invaluable contribution to any meal!
Mango () is a delicious tropical fruit that can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Packed full of vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber – essential components of good health – mango also boosts immune systems, assists digestion processes, and regulates blood sugar levels for greater well-being.
Mangoes are beloved fruits worldwide, prized for their sweet-tart flavor and high concentration of antioxidants and phytochemicals that may help combat cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Bananas are an integral component of many Punjabi dishes, including Keley Dii TtiHkii (Kelay da Halwa) and Aloo Bukhara da Sharbat. Both can be enjoyed year-round as tasty treats that contain potassium, vitamin C, and fiber for good health.
Kinnow () is an Indian hybrid citrus fruit bred from King orange and Willowleaf mandarin varieties and available year-round as an alluring spice to beverages and desserts alike. A rich source of vitamin C that strengthens immunity while improving mental health, Kinnow makes an excellent ingredient for delicious dishes like street Daa Achaar (Santray Da Achaar), an orange pickle perfect with parathas, as well as for refreshing beverages like Santra Pani.
Watermelon
Punjab’s fertile soil provides an oasis of fruitful growing conditions during its scorching summers, creating ideal conditions for watermelons and other fruits to flourish. Guavas, bananas, mangoes, papayas, apples, custard apples, and oranges are popular thirst quenchers, from round to cubic, featuring sweet, tangy, or crunchy flesh. Some even come shaped like birds or turtles!
Apart from providing water, fruits are also rich sources of vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C, potassium, and dietary fiber that support heart and intestinal health and help maintain a healthy weight.
For optimal results, watermelons should be planted on deep, loose soil that drains well. Weed-free beds in the early stages should be kept clear. Irrigate regularly, but avoid overwatering to prevent the depletion of essential nutrients. Also, avoid fertilizers or chemical sprays on vines or fruit.
Apples are an integral component of Punjabi cuisine, particularly juicy Royal Delicious and Golden Delicious varieties that boast sweet yet tart flavors that complement parathas and rotis. Not to mention their wealth of nutrients – vitamin C, potassium, and folate- as well as being used as part of Punjabi desserts like Keelee Daa Halwa, which provides both sweet and tangy apple preserve goodness!
Banana
Fruit is an integral part of Punjabi cuisine, from adding flavor to maintaining health. As winter settles in, orchards in this region come alive with citrus fruits like juicy oranges and tart apples – which provide vital potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidant benefits, boost immune systems, and aid digestion. Fruits like these are commonly featured in many Punjabi dishes such as Keelee dii Tikki (banana-based dessert) or Beer Daa achaar (Ber Da Chutney), an aromatic pickle made with pickled jujubes!
The mango reigns as the undisputed champion of Punjabi fruits and can be found throughout the year in numerous varieties ranging from Dussehri, Langra, and Alphonso to Dussehri Panna and Mango Lassi. Mangoes provide high amounts of vitamins A and C and can be enjoyed in numerous recipes, from tangy Aam Panna to creamy Mango Lassi.
Punjabis love their plums! A hybrid citrus fruit from King orange and Willowleaf Mandarin varieties, Kinnow is known for its juicy texture and easy peel skin, making for an exceptional plum experience. Nutritionally speaking, Kinnows are rich sources of Vitamin A & C plus dietary fiber, often featured in refreshing drinks such as Santra Pani orange juice or Aluu Bukhara da Sharbat plum-based drinks.
Apple
Apples hold deep cultural and linguistic meaning for many cultures and languages around the world, from Biblical tales to Greek mythology and beyond. From their meaning as forbidden fruit in biblical stories and the temptation to technology innovation embodied by Apple Inc., apples hold multiple layers of significance across cultures and languages. Packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatories, they’re an excellent source of nutrition essential to overall wellness – perhaps best illustrated by sayings such as “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
Punjabi culture reveres apples as symbols of fertility and prosperity, serving them at special events or offering them to deities as offerings at harvest festivals. Furthermore, apples feature prominently in traditional Punjabi cuisine, such as Keelee Da Halwa (Kelay Da Halwa), a warm and comforting dessert dish.
Hindi refers to this delicious fruit as a sub, while Urdu uses the word said as its poetic equivalent, reflecting Persian and Arabic influences in local Indian languages. Punjabi – spoken both within India and Pakistan – uses seeb for apples, underscoring its vibrant cultural tapestry.
Kinnow
The Kinnow is a citrus fruit similar to an orange but with added sweetness. Its juice can quench thirst quickly while offering various bioactive compounds with health-related advantages. Peel, pomace, and seeds all possess their unique characteristics believed to provide numerous health-related advantages like reduced risk of cardiovascular disease; the peel is rich in polyphenols, carotenoids, and essential oils, while seeds contain high concentrations of limonoids, which have both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits.
The kinnow is a vital citrus fruit in Punjab, contributing significantly to the economic development of the state. With multiple uses spanning culinary, medicinal, and industrial usages – not to mention being packed full of vitamin C that can boost immune systems against infection – regular consumption also serves to strengthen bones.
Fazilka district of Punjab is known for the cultivation of kinnow and other citrus fruits due to the ideal climate. Planting starts early each winter. Kinnow is also a popular export item.
Indian Jujube
Jujubes are packed with fiber, making them great for digestion. Their soothing properties also help relax nerves. Furthermore, these delicious snacks contain iron, calcium, and phosphorus for digestive health purposes, as well as plenty of vitamin C to boost immunity and support heart health.
Indian Jujube Tree (Ziziphus nummularia) stands out among fruit trees by being hardy enough to flourish even in dry regions and is widely cultivated to provide shade, fuel wood, fencing material, and fodder for fodder and camels and goats alike. Honeybees pollinate its flowers, while camels eat its fruits, as do goats. Furthermore, this tree serves as one of the preferred host plants of lac insects that produce silk buttons and tasar silk fabrics from its secretions used for silk production purposes.
Ber trees are iconic symbols of Punjab’s rich cultural history and can be found in many Gurudwaras and religious books. At Amritsar’s Golden Temple alone, there is an estimated age of 440 years! A team of Punjab Agricultural University scientists is taking care to preserve them through scientific strategies that increase yield while decreasing disease susceptibility. Furthermore, researchers are devising innovative techniques that fertilize these historic trees while improving quality.