Making the bitter better

As seasons change, turn to locally-grown greens such as bathuwa and sarson

As the country observed ‘National Deworming Day’ on February 10, I was reminded of how as kids we were forced to eat tender, roasted neem leaves for three days before our meals at least once a year. Back then, there was no National Deworming Day; but we had our grandmothers and mothers who ensured we ate something bitter to fight intestinal worms — and there was no escaping this concoction of bitter leaves roasted with salt and turmeric in a wrought-iron kadai .

Any resistance was met with the whip of a cane stick in the air; that would be the end of the revolt, as we wolfed down balls of steamed rice mixed with the leaves as tears rolled down our cheeks.

The practice of eating bitter foods as the Indian calendar changed from Magh to Phagun was later explained to us. Back home in Assam, neem leaves were not the only antidotes. The home remedy menu also featured the tender leaves of parijat flowers (night jasmine) and drumstick flowers amongst others; with the former being batter-fried like pakoras.

Incidentally, social media is an interesting place to discover other indigenous remedies. I thought I was the only one to remember these practices till I came across a post from a home chef in Mumbai, who happens to be from Assam. She posted a photo of a meal of neem leaf

pakora and other seasonal greens. Around the same time, I noticed how the local vegetable market is changing its ‘look’. Greens are disappearing and vegetable stalls are slowly getting crammed with commonly available vegetables like carrots, brinjal, beans and cabbage.

If you would like to spice up your dinner, it isn’t too late though — winter greens like sarson (mustard leaves) and bathuwa (chenopodium) are still available for a few more days according to my vegetable vendor. As the conversation veers towards recipes he asks me how I prepare the dish. But even before I can reply, he tells me that the only other people who ask for bathuwa are people from Bihar, Maharashtra and Bengal.

The benefits of the leaves are many; it helps that it tastes good too. I normally cook

bathuwa with tomatoes and Mexican red lentils (

masur dal ). Then my colleague surprised me with her version —

bathuwa cooked with split Bengal gram.