What are the best wild foods to add to your diet?
Wild food is trending. Since time immemorial, it played a key role in our food culture especially in the tribal belts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. Adding naturally growing wild plants, shoots and roots to our diet has its benefits too – these are rich sources of protein, vitamins and minerals and dietary fibres.
Here are some of the wild foods you can consider:
Moringa
- Is known as drumstick tree, horseradish tree, or ben oil tree.
- Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects.
- The leaves and the pods can be used in cooking.
Gongura
Available in two varieties – green stemmed and red stemmed leaf.
Good source of folate, vitamin B6, iron, vitamin C, folic acid and antioxidants.
Finely or roughly chopped leaves can be used in dals, pickles, lentil and non- veg dishes.
Malabar spinach
Is also known as Basella alba and comes in two varieties.
Rich in vitamin A and C, iron and calcium.
Can be deep fried into crispy pakoras or added in making fish curries.
Colocasia Leaves
It is known as Colocasia Leaves
Rich source of Vitamin A
Can be deep fried with chickpea paste or shallow fried with cumin or sesame seeds, curry leaves and coriander leaves as garnish.
Haak
Known as collard greens (Kashmiri saag)
It contains substantial amounts of vitamin K, A, C and manganese.
Can be consumed by stir frying in mustard oil, asafoetida and chillies.