The Many Ways India Uses the Roselle
In Andhra cuisine, roselle is called gongura and is a treasured ingredient. The leaves are cooked into a pachadi, a pickle, a pappu, a pulihora (tamarind rice) and even with mutton or chicken. In Bihar, they make a kudrum chutney with roselle, garlic and chillies. In Tamil homes, pulicha keerai (sorrel) thokku is popular condiment, made with the sorrel leaves. In Maharashtra, roselle is called ambadi. Ambadichi bhaji is popular in certain areas in Maharashtra, made with the leaves, some peanuts, rice, and yellow split peas. Within Bengali cuisine (and in typical Bengali fashion), it has a wide variety of daaknams — chukai, chukuri, mesta, horgora, hoilpha, and tok dhyarosh. Across Bengal (more so in Bangladesh than in West Bengal), the roselle sepals find their place in bhortas, small fish curries, jhols, and achars. The sour roselle leaves are eaten as ‘shaak’, and certain varieties of roselle plant fibres make great replacements for strings. The chukai shaak made by chopping the roselle leaves and frying them with dried red chillies, mustard, sugar and salt in mustard oil. …