Saturday, February 9, 2013

Green Leafy Vegetables - साग-पात हरु - (Part 4)

Green Leafy Vegetables - Hariyo Saag-Paat Haru (साग-पात हरु) - (Part 4 of 4)
A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal 

This is the last part of pictorial tour of Nepali leafy greens.  I hope you had much fun as I had putting together the virtual tour of Nepali vegetable markets.  Please drop me a few lines in the comments section of the blog in case I missed something.  I would appreciate your feedback; it will help revise and make corrections.

Here I have added the following green vegetables
Baabari, Pudina - (बाबरी  को साग) - Common Mint
Pooi or Poi ko Saag - (पोई को साग)  - Indian Spinach, Malabar Night Shade
Neuro - (न्यूरो को साग) - Edible Fern Shoots
Index of Nepali Green Leafy Vegetables - हरियो साग पात हरु ... (next blog coming soon)  
Here is step-by-step tutorial on how to make perfect bundles of greens by using dry rice straws (paral ko doree).  I was pretty excited to see this creative art and wanted to share it in the blog.  The street vendor first sorts out the straw and keeps it to tie the leaves.
He says, "You want to learn ....No problem, just watch me! ... First collect all the greens and arrange  the root ends and stems facing in one direction.  Use several straws to hold the greens and make a full twist with a loop towards one side....and he started to chat as he worked making several bundles, "the price of spinach used to be Rupees 5 per bundle, but now has gone up to Rs 25 - oh ho..for a family of four, you will probably need to purchase three bundles, the price has gone up so much...unaffordable..."kasto mahango chaa (how expensive everything is!)"
Here are the finished bundles.  The presentation was so beautiful with an extra special touch.
 Mixed greens bundles, usually made up equal parts spinach, garden cress, and fennel greens,  sold ready to cook - no need to mix and match, so convenient for buyers.

Baabari, Pudina - बाबरी - Common Mint is known as Baabari in Nepal.  It is a strongly aromatic herb, grown or partly found wild in many parts. 
Common Mint - the tender leaves and springs are eaten fresh in a form of chutney, and beverage cold or hot, or used as a flavoring agent in Nepali cooking. "There are 30 species of mint, but the two most commonly available are peppermint (more pungent with bright green leaves, purple stems and peppery flavor) and spearmint (gray-green leaves and milder flavor)" - source Kitchen Dictionary
Pooi or Poi ko Saag -  पोई को साग  - Com. name: Indian Spinach, Malabar Night Shade - Bot. name: Basella rubra L, Family: Basellaceae - soft, succulent and smooth  biennial or perennial plant.  It is usually found growing wild in the shady hedges and walls under Terai condition.  The greens are cooked like any green vegetables and tastes more like common spinach.
Neuro - न्यूरो को साग - (Edible Fern Shoots) - Fiddlehead ferns are the young shoots of edible ferns.  They resemble the spiral end of a fiddle, for which they are named, and they taste somewhat similar to asparagus-okra-spinach, but their texture is slightly crunchy.  They are extremely perishable and need to be cooked within a day or two after picking. In Nepal, they are collected in the spring time from the woods, shady swamps, riverbanks, and damp fields.  They can also be purchased from the local markets.  In my last visit to Kathmandu, I was so excited to see neuro for sale in the market, neatly arranged in a bundle.......continue reading my previous posting, "Fiddlehead Fern - Neuro, Niuro (नीयूरो)".  Please click here.
Meet my favorite vendor again, from dawn until dusk - seven days a week -   I asked him again, "so what happens to the leftover greens that are not sold?"  He told me that at the end of the day they are sold off at lower prices.  Sometimes vendors from a different part of the town come and get it for a throwaway prices to be resold at their evening stall. 

Please turn to the next blog posting - Index of Nepali Leafy Greens 


A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 1 of 4)
A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 2 of 4)
A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 3 of 4) 

A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 4 of 4)
Index of Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal


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17 comments:

  1. This has been a very interesting series of posts. Thank you.

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    1. I am so delighted that you came across my blog and found green vegetables (1-4) interesting. I welcome your comment and request you to keep checking my new postings.....

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  2. where an we get spear mint in kathamanu yalley??

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  3. Thank you Jil Walters...much appreciated.....

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  4. Hi, I've been reading the weblog a couple of days and merely wanted to say that the way with words is top notch. All the best.
    Painting Nepal
    Painting Budget Nepal

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  5. I really enjoyed reading this blog and knew a lot about green leafy vegetables..Thanku so much ...

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  6. thk for your work and inspiration - now I can even write about this veg for my language people which travel to Nepal

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    1. Thank you for stopping and checking my blog. I appreciate your kind works.

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  7. Dear Jyoti, I have seen today one another saag on nepali market - they called it bantori or bamtori or bautori.. could you help me to find which one plant it is? I have a pic which I will share you if you tell me where

    My post about saag and some other you can see here:
    http://lifeofus.net/poland/tag/kuchnia-nepalska/

    ...which my daughter wrote in English:
    http://lifeofus.net/blog/2018/03/13/hariyo-saag-green-leafy-vegetables-in-nepal/

    all the best for you :)

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    1. Thank you for checking my blog. Please send me the picture of saag picture at jyotirgamoy@gmail.com....

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  8. Hello maam. Can you kindly provide me information regarding "poi saag" . I need it for research purpose. Where can I find poi saag in bulk? or simply where is it mostly grown?

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  9. Hello, I was in Dharan Nepal and found a sag called as sime sag that are planted in Rivera and it's bank in continuous flow of water...what is the scientific name for it?

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  10. Where can we find the seeds of poi saag(basella alba) for cultivation?

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  11. Where can we get malabar seeds to grow in Nepal?

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