Lakpura Wood Apple is the whole fruit of the divul tree, a hardy tree of Sri Lanka's dry regions that also grows in home gardens across the island. In English it is called wood apple, elephant apple or monkey fruit, and in Sinhala simply divul. Each fruit arrives as it grows, sealed inside its own hard shell.
The outside looks more like a stone than a fruit: a round, pale grey-brown rind, rough to the touch and hard enough that it has to be cracked open. Inside is a soft, sticky brown pulp threaded with fibres and small pale seeds. The pulp is aromatic and very tangy, with a slight sweetness, and its flavour is often compared to a mix of tamarind and mango.
In Sri Lanka the pulp is scooped out with a spoon and eaten as it is, often with a little salt and sugar to soften its sharpness. It is best known as divul kiri, a drink made by blending the pulp with coconut milk and sugar or jaggery, and it is also cooked into jams, chutneys and preserves. The pack itself marks the three ways it is used: whole, as a drink and as jam.
The fruit is packed whole in a clear bag under the Lakpura label, which reads Wood Apple Fruit. It is offered in 500g and 1kg packs.
