When I visited the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh (RBGE) in September 2016 I was pleased to find an exhibition of portraits of Nepalese plants, many of which were edible and information was even provided on food and other uses of the plants shown! The exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Britain and Nepal and the even longer botanical relationship of the gardens with Nepal (see http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/21610).
The exhibition features drawings made by a group of 6 RBGE artists that visited Nepal in 2015 as well as a Nepalese artist. See also http://www.mdhardingtravelphotography.com/single-post/2016/08/13/Bicentenary-UK—Nepal
My album of pictures show the edible and fibre plants on display!
Gaultheria fragrantissima has aromatic leaves and edible fruits eaten fresh and distilled into an alcoholic drink
The national flower of Nepal, Rhododendron arboreum…although not mentioned at the exhibition, the flower petals are eaten and in some areas the petals are pickled by simply mixing with salt and chili!! One day :)
Myrica esculenta, the Kafal tree, a relative of a common plant found in bogs here, bog myrtle (pors) has “delicious” fruits
Bauhinia purpurea, Korailo is a leguem with multiple food uses: flower buds and young fruits are cooked as a vegetable or pickled and its seeds are also fried and eaten
Leucosceptrum canum, Bhusure is used as an insecticide, ripe fruits are eaten by children and the flowers yield a yellow food colouring
Thysolaena latifolia (Tiger grass) is an important fibre plant
Midway through the exhibition was a short film from the visit of the RBGE artists
Herbarium specimen of a nettle species (Urtica)
This is one that I’ve tried unsuccessfully in Malvik. Allo or Girardinia diversifolia is known as the Himalayan Nettle and is an important fibre plant..
Articles made with Himalayan Nettle
A backstrap loom used to weave Himalayan Nettle
The paper on which this portrait is painted is made from this plant, Daphne bholua (Lokta paper)
Mahonia napaulensis (Jamane mandro) berries are eaten fresh or dried.
A couple of weeks ago, I finally got round to inviting botanist Kamal Acharya and his wife Sharmila Phuyal to see my garden!! They were amazed to see so many plants that they were familiar with from home and I blogged about this here:
They asked (begged?) couldn’t we come and make you a Nepalese meal with plants from your garden! I just had to find time for this and I’m very glad I did as it was a fantstic meal. Yes, I’m a very lucky man!!
Sharmila about to prepare fresh Jimmu for the very first time. Living in the lowlands, they can only get it dried…
Sharmila gets acquainted with the Nepalese onion in Malvik…still a bit in disbelief that this is really happening!
Another plant my new friends recognised was taro (karkalo) or Colocasia esculenta. I’ve grown this as a pot plant for several years for a couple of tubers a year, inside in winter and outside for most of the summer. Even in our cold climate it grows outside in summer! However, I’d never used the leaves as I thought one had to use special low-oxalate varieties (oxalate in the leaves can scratch your throat). They assured me I could eat it!
Sharmila can’t get karkalo leaf in Trondheim and , so it was amazing for them to meet someone up in the north actually growing it! They will now grow it themselves!
Meanwhile, Britt-Arnhild and helper made the salad (NB! Salads aren’t very common in Nepal, perhaps cooking to sterilise).
What a lucky man I am!!!
Britt-Arnild’s picture from the kitchen
A quick fry of the Jimmu (Allium wallichii) before adding to the black lentils/dal..
The karkalo leaf stems were first split lengthwise
The taro leaf was rolled up before cooking…Sharmila and Kamal had different ways of doing this from their different villages.
A Nepalese spice colelction including cumin and fenugreek
Cutting the taro leaf
The next generation of edimental salad makers! She decorated it herself!!
“We use the broad bean pods too” Kamal told me!!! What? Really? Isn’t it very fibrous?
Preparing the broad beans for cooking
The red coloured variety is Karmazyn
The Nepalese pressure cooker was frequently used!
Ghee (clarified butter) is important in Nepalese cooking as it is in India. They sometimes make their own, but this was bought..
Kamal showing one of the spices used…Zanthoxylum armatum, a new species for my life list!!
Cooking the taro leaf
WOW, are you jealous? The Allium wallichii flowers was a last minute finishing touch…I sacrificed my only dark flowered Jimmu for this picture! The broad beans were a bit fibrous but very tasty…. I will certainly be using the pods of broad beans in future. As Kamal said ” what’s a bit of fibre…it’s good for us!”
Nepal in Malvik edimentalised with the flowers of two varieties of Allium wallichii from high elevations in Nepal, but feeling quite at home in the lowlands of Malvik! The cooked taro was delicious and I will have to start growing more pots of taro as it makes an excellent winter house plant green! I couldn’t sense any silicates in my throat either!
A lovely visit this evening from botanist Kamal Acharya and his wife Sharmila Phuyal and daughter. They taught me several new uses for my old plants!
For instance, we started indoors as it was pouring with rain outside and they noticed I was growing Andean vegetable Cyclanthera pedata (Achocha) in my living room and to my surprise told me it was commonly grown in Nepal and they not only used the small green fruits, but the top shoots and the black seeds. The latter are roasted, ground and mixed with salt, chili and perhaps lemon. The powder is also used as a flavouring in chutney :)
I enjoyed your visit! Welcome back another time when it’s not pouring with rain :)
Kamal and Sharmila posing with Nepalese onion, Allium wallichii, one of the 80 in my book :)Sharmila and daughter posing with Nepalese onion, Allium wallichii, best I learned eaten with black lentils…Sharmila showing how she sucked nectar from Canna flowers as a child…:)
Cyclanthera pedata (barela in Nepal), my living room climber just coming into flower. This Andean plant has been adopted by the Nepalese :) This is what I grew as Cyclanthera brachystachya “Fat Baby” in my old cold greenhouse in 2008. The picture was taken on 28th September.
This is what I grew as Cyclanthera brachystachya “Fat Baby” in my old cold greenhouse in 2008. The picture was taken on 28th September.