It’s the fruiting season of the prickly pear — a type of cactus that grows mostly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Manjuben Mansukhbhai Mori, 65, of Reshamiya village in Gujarat, eagerly awaits this time of the year. “I make a juice from the prickly pear fruit,” she says. “I have cooked these plants and grasses just as my father taught me 50 years ago.”
Kaleem ali, or Drimia indica, for instance, is a type of plant that grows during the monsoon in the grasslands of Reshamiya. The leaves of this plant are cooked to make a bhaaji or subji. “The leaves are chopped and then blanched in water. They are then cooked in oil with onions and masala,” says Mori.
“Cook food — grasses, creepers, fruits — that is seasonal. Monsoon is the best time to harvest and cook dishes made from grassland produce”Manjuben Mansukhbhai Mori
