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Culinary Wisdom |
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The 11th shodh yatra is round the corner – it starts on 26 May. There is a very simple way of describing the motto of shodh yatra: it is a voyage of discovery. This description has an unexplored immensity to itself. Whenever the Honey Bee Network organises a yatra, it sends its organisers for some fieldwork before the yatris set out on the journey. The fieldwork results in some fascinating pieces of information, some of which the network wants to share through this new column about recipes. The recipes given below were collected from Kantaben Govindbhai Patel of the Jakhala village of the Anand district in Gujarat during the eighth shodh yatra in June 2002.
Dish of the Leaves of Guar or Cluster Bean
Pluck soft leaves of guar or clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) that are six to seven days old. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan. Put cumin seeds in it and stir them till they become red. Add chopped garlic and stir it slowly till it becomes red too. Put the guar leaves in the pan and fry them. Put salt, chilli powder, turmeric and coriander powder according to taste and fry it for five minutes at low flame. This dish is eaten with roti and khichdi.
Advantages: As soon as it starts raining the vegetable supply is affected in the countryside. Villagers use dishes made of such nutritional plants, which are available in abundance near them. Guar is even drought resistant. It also has sugar balancing and fiber laxative qualities. So it can help in healthy bowel activity and in controlling blood sugar level.
Curry of the Arni Flowers
Heat oil in a wok. Put chopped garlic and ginger, leaves of fenugreek and seeds of mustard and cumin in it. Stir them till they become a bit reddish. Put the flowers of arni (Clerodendrum phlomidis) in the mixture. When the flowers turn red put two teaspoons of besan or gram flour and 500 millilitres of buttermilk in it. Put salt and ch1illi powder in it according to taste. Keep the mixture on low flame for eight to 10 minutes, till it has come to the brim of the wok. It is consumed with roti and khichdi and can also be had like soup.
Advantages: This curry has some medicinal values too. If it is taken once in a day for four days it helps in reducing the pain in the knee joints. It is also useful for treating diarrhoea and obesity.
Dish of the leaves of Jivanti or Dodi
Put washed soft leaves of jivanti or dodi (Leptadenia reticulata) in oil in a frying pan. Put seeds of mustard and cumin in the heated oil. Then put the leaves of jivanti in it and stir the mixture till it becomes reddish. Now put salt and the powders of turmeric, chilli and coriander according to your taste. To get a good taste in this dish, do not add any garlic.
Advantages: Jivanti is considered to be an eye tonic. It is also known to show generally nutritive values, particularly for human skin. |
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 14(1):15, 2003 |
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Scout: Ramesh Taviyad |
