The top portion of the fruit must be cut off to reveal the sweet jelly seed sockets, translucent pale-white, similar to that of the lychee but with a milder flavor and no pit.

The soft orange-yellow mesocarp pulp of the ripe fruit is sugary, dense and edible, rich in vitamins A and C.[8] They also contain bitter compound called flabelliferrins, which are steroidal saponins.

Bengalis have perfected the art of making various sweet dishes with the yellowish viscous fluid substance obtained from a ripe palm fruit.

Thais also use the fruit to make the steamed fluffy tala palm cake, call “Khanom Tan”.

Obtaining the sap traditionally involves tapping the top shoots and collecting the dripping juice in hanging earthen pots (in some regions a plastic or bamboo bottle).

The juice collected in evening or after fermentation becomes sour, and is called tāḍī (ताडी > "toddy") in Marathi, hta-yay (ထန်းရည်) in Myanmar and Bhojpuri.

[9] A sugary sap can be obtained from the young inflorescence, either male or female [10] and it is concentrated to a crude sugar called jaggery or Tal Patali (তাল পাটালী) in Bengali, hta-nyat (ထန်းလျက်) in Myanmar and Pana Vellam or Karuppukatti (கருப்புகட்டி or கருபட்டி) in Tamil, or it can be fermented to make an alcoholic beverage called toddy or htan-yay hkar (ထန်းရည်ခါး) in Myanmar, or distilled to make a liqour arrack.

'fresh tala palm water') or used to make an alcoholic beverage called nam tan mao (น้ำตาลเมา lit.

In the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar, and in Jaffna, Bengal, Sri Lanka, the seeds are planted and made to germinate and the fleshy stems (below the surface) are boiled or roasted and eaten.

It is known as Thegalu (తేగలు) or Gaygulu (గేగులు) or Gengulu (గెంగులు) (especially in Telangana) in Telugu, as Panai Kizhangu or Panangkizhangu (பனங்கிழங்கு) in Tamil, and as htabin myiq (ထန်းပင်မြစ်) in Myanmar.

The germinated seed's hard shell is also cut open to take out the crunchy kernel, which tastes like a sweeter water chestnut.

The white kernel of the ripe palm fruit after being left for a few months is used as an offering in Lakshmi Puja in various parts of Bengal and is also eaten raw.

The Borassus flabellifer leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material.

[13] Borassus flabellifer has a growth pattern, very large size, and clean habits that make it an attractive ornamental tree, cultivated for planting in gardens and parks as landscape palm species.