Source: The Hindu, February 1, 2018
Moringa is a miracle tree. Each part — leaves, fruit, flowers and roots — is edible and has been used for generations. It is deemed as a superfood.
The flowers have such a delicate and soft texture, but once cooked, it takes a deeper robust flavour, similar to the taste of mushrooms. As with any edible flowers, remove the stamen and the pistil before cooking. You must soak them in a bowl of water to remove any insects (since it is a major source of nectar) and dirt from the flower.
Most people have a moringa tree in their backyard, from where you can get the flowers. Or simply ask the vegetable vendor that sells the leaves to procure some flowers. Look for younger, tender flowers, and as always, make sure they haven’t been sprayed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The flowers should smell fresh.
As awareness grows of the food we eat, we can inform our choices of what’s nutritionally meaningful with what’s available locally. Yes it’s true, we do have local alternatives to matcha, quinoa, and more – AND they’re superfoods. Read 10 Indian Alternatives to International Superfoods by Kumud Dadlani (published in Conde Nast Traveller) to learn about moringa, amaranth, and more of our local hidden treasures.
Image: Source CNT August 11, 2017
‘Nother fabulous season – thank you all! 7 weeks and nearly 6000 kgs of mango fed to the city! Close to another 1000 kg shared locally in our village, including the birds, critters, and bacteria claiming their share. Highlights of our season…
– The land fed us more mango and variety than ever before (oh the secrets the trees hold).
– We met some amazing people. You shared our mangoes with your friends (and gave us so much Insta love), that brought more mango to more people.
– We reached nearly every corner of the city (and several others), with the mango, despite our uber small team.
– Kitchens, Cafes, Restaurants served up some super fun mango dishes (often leaving us jonsing for a taste).
– A farm visit saw folks gather and feast on the mango at source.
– Hands continue to come out of nowhere to help us.
– Spreading the sweetness at the betterfoods farmers’ market.
– At distribution, one of the most fulfilling parts of the season, while his friends were asking for raincoats, one bright lad with a mango grin said, “Didi tution dilva do” (so a side shout out – anyone educating street kids in south Bombay?)
– And finally, while buying mango, you’ll even contributed to our fund raiser to kick start an organic farm for an Adivasi farmer in our village.
Thanks for making this so much more than just a mango season.
While that’s a wrap for our fresh mango, we’ve got mango thins, aamrass, herbal teas, preserves, and other awesome produce we grow year-round.
…growing heirloom tomatoes
…learning about roots
…making ghee (clarified butter)
…grazing and milking our growing family of cows
…making our own packaging from supari (betel) tree leaves
…fermenting edibles from the zen garden!
…expanding our heirloom tomato collection
…sourcing produce from other farmers to encourage their good practices and get them better value for their work
What’s on the horizon? … Bees! We hope to home the hardworking-pollinating-honey-making-compound-eyed ones soon.
The torrential rains of the monsoon allow us a bit of a breather on the land. Mother nature waters, we sit back, eat cukes, harvest, and work minimally not letting the jungle overtake. Post monsoon, we get busy. A quick rendition…
Members – two new members have joined us on the land. In India, the cow is synonymous with the mother and considered a Goddess (Devi). Sure, the cow gives milk, but for a grower, she shits and pees all over the land. We’ve willed their presence for some years now and are stoked to be joined by these two gorgeous ladies, with their massive strength and gentle presence.
Sows – while the monsoons have stretched over by a month, we can’t pass up a sow period. We kickstarted the year with heirloom tomatoes (adding 3 new varieties to the collection from last), cucumbers (1 heirloom variety and another indigenous one), gourds (several local varieties). In store next are chillis, brinjal, radish, microgreens, and a host of weirdly coloured heirloom veggie seeds we got our hands on!
Ingredients – always foraging for food off the land. Sure, we grow, but what does the forest have for us?! This year, we were introduced to a whole list of indigenous monsoon vegs, also bamboo shoots, and we received some delightful mushroom harvests!
Ferments – our ferment continues to brew, feed for the soil, bubbling with life as we continually add new ingredients off the land
Harvests – harvests have included gourds, herbs, pumpkins, and flowers
Making Friends and Foes – as we ogle at the beauty and variety of nature’s creation, and delve into what role they play on the land… well, we make some friends and some foes. For the burrower, our til is kept to a mimimum. And the hornworm in all it’s beauty, does feed off our saplings and is now fed to the fish.
Spreading the knowledge – our goal is to see all growers evolve to clean practices. This year, we have begun work on PurnaMadhuVan, a plot of land around the bend from us, committed to growing clean and nutritious food. Here, starting from the blank slate, we sowed fruit trees for future generations, herbs for a couple years down, shared with them several of our saplings, and shared with you their bitter gourd and pumpkin.
And now, it’s back to the land.
The monsoons, the earth births all seed that until now sat in potential, including a variety of edibles… kaodi sabzi, kadu kand, mahua, and more. The forests leave no man hungry. The knowledge too exists. The lands we’re willing to leave wild though, these are the lands where one can find the most nutritious foods.
This Spring left many growers wondering about their mango crop. Rains from the year prior hadn’t given the trees their fill. As we commenced harvests though, nature showed, yet again, she had plenty to offer.
For us, the season carries a short, intense, and sweet high. This year we brought nearly 3000 kilos of the sweet one to the city. Over the span of 3 weeks, you shared it with friends, family, loved ones. The stories, as always, kept us going… The lady who checked-in on mangoes in March, refusing to buy any for her mum until ours were ready 2 months later. The friend whose baby weaned with mango, gleaming eyes and mango-stained grinning face. Sundays that the boys joined us to unload crates, ending up more busy feeding crows baby mango. The even younger, whom, overwhelmed, gathered more mangoes than their arms could hold, dropping one each time they added another to their bounty, to leave only after putting the mangoes to sleep in their bed of hay. The principal who continues to share the fruit with all that cross her path, her job she says, is to spread the sweetness – we think she adds in her own. The flower seller on the street who shared the year before story, “didi, gaye saal mein itna aam tha, humne gaon leke sabh baccho ko khilaya” (sister, last year there was so much mango, we took it to our village and fed all the kids). The lady who, out of the ICU, is healing herself with mango. The gentleman, who starts his family’s morning with a mango smoothie preparation… he peels each mango with his hands. You all echoed the simple bottom line.. We’ve had much mango this season, but these… They’re something else.