Wild, wild edibles

Foraging for food has made us aware of how and when to harvest and also focus on consuming local and seasonal food, which is now one of the mantras of living a healthy lifestyle, writes Arti Das

It was a relaxed Saturday afternoon in December, when Ramita Gurav, who is an associate professor, received a call from her friend telling her to come to the banks of Chapora river at Siolim village in North Goa to harvest the local shellfish khube. This information made Ramita nostalgic as she remembered how as a child, she would collect these shellfish along with her family members but in the last 20 years or so, this practice has completely stopped. So, she didn’t waste any more time and joined her friends along with her sister in collecting these shellfish. After 15 years, locals have also seen such a massive populace of shellfish on the banks of the river.

“These khube are usually found in the shallow waters so one has to sit in the water and just dig their hands in sandy water and collect them in buckets or bags which are usually tied to one’s waist,” explains Ramita. She then brought this bag full of shellfish and made a coconut-based local delicacy called sukke. It is a semi-dry dish where the main flavour comes from a paste made of coconut, chillies, spices, and dried kokum which is used as a souring agent. “To get the best taste one has to cook this shellfish as soon as it is harvested. If you freeze it to cook the next day you are compromising on taste and most importantly its freshness,” elaborates Ramita.

What Ramita explains is part of the local indigenous knowledge that she has learned from her elders while foraging for food. Such practice of people coming together as a community and then sharing the harvest and recipes and some tips has become extremely rare in the current circumstances. Now, many a time people do not have time, energy, or even skills to go out and forage for their food. Also, when we have supermarkets in our backyards such practices are almost unheard of. However, when we look at the history of mankind, foraging has played an important role in human survival. Foraging for food has made us aware of how and when to harvest and also focus on consuming local and seasonal food, which is now one of the mantras of living a healthy lifestyle. Dr Maryanne Lobo, an ayurvedic doctor based in Goa who conducts foraging trails in different parts of the state, mentions, “foraging is not just for recreation but a practice employed for good health.” She gives an example of how foraging changes according to the season and availability of edibles in nature. “In the rainy season, river fish (locally called Sangta) is consumed in Goa. Also at this time of the year, locals consume green leafy vegetables like the leaves of colocasia, taikilo (cassia tora), drumstick, kuddukechi bhaji, (Celosia argentea), akur, which is a wild fern. Most of these grow wild and many times women come together to forage these leaves in monsoon,” says Dr Maryanne.

Along with these tender shoots of bamboo, leaves of a wild plant called Shirmundli which is a creeper and is found in forested areas of Goa, is also foraged especially in hinterlands of Goa. The most important aspect of foraging wild varieties is the timing based on season and also how and when to harvest. Like the central tender stem of the wild banana plant. It is harvested at a specific time — the budding of the banana flower. It is at this stage the tree is cut and the central tender stem is extracted. It all depends on the timing if harvested a bit early or late when it is not considered edible. It is added to the local vegetarian delicacy, Khatkhate, which is a coconut and lentil-based gravy where many seasonal vegetables are added and it is cooked without onion or oil and it is mainly made during festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi. There’s also a custom of making a vegetable from five different leafy vegetables found locally during this festival. Dr Maryanne further cautions that one has to be careful when it comes to consuming these seasonal vegetables. “When I conduct tours, I educate my participants on how to harvest, how to cook, and to consume them once in 7 or 10 days as these vegetables contain a high content of iron and other micronutrients and our gut cannot process it as now we consume a lot of processed food,” elaborates Dr Maryanne. That’s why it is necessary to educate people, especially children about backyard ecology as they are cut off from our natural surroundings and now the pandemic has added to this issue. However, there are people like artist and designer Vishal Rawlley who has co-founded the Backyard Class and the Community Classroom to engage neighbourhood children in learning beyond the virtual platform of online classes. There’s also a session where children are encouraged to forage wild berries. He says, “I want every child to experience the joy of foraging for fruits and berries. That is a simple and effective way of invoking love for nature and an appreciation for its riches.” For Vishal, foraging wild berries was part of his growing up days but as small towns started expanding these trees and green spaces started shrinking. “I felt a sense of loss that the fruits, berries which are so common are now becoming so rare. But I recognise these plants instantly because of my long association with them. My seasons are marked by the arrival of these fruits. I am always on the lookout for them. I have a mental map of their distribution in my city. It gives me great pleasure and solace to have them around; it’s like free food from nature’s bounty.” For Dr Maryanne also it was a similar feeling as she wants to engage people and create awareness about biodiversity through something as basic as foraging. She also laments that now this act is sometimes reduced as a trend on social media. However, she is happy that there is a thrust towards spreading awareness around it. “We have a pharmacy and pantry right in our backyard but not many are aware of it. Interestingly, one can find edibles even in urban spaces like in the capital city of Panaji. During my walk, I found around 10 edibles. It was just amazing,” says Dr Maryanne. She also points out many wild species which are dwindling like wild brinjal, bharangi (clerodedrum serratum), etc. Now many of her participants and some research students are working on highlighting the importance of wild edibles and how they can lead us to live a healthy life and connect to the source of our food.