Pundi palle

You really have to be a hard-core north Karnatak-ian to know this palle :). Or you might have heard the following:

Ganapati Ganapati Moraya!

Pundi palle sorya!

We do get this in NJ sometimes. It is called Bimli Jute in English. The botanical name of this is Hibiscus Cannabinus. This plant is mostly found in India and is distributed throughout the country up to an elevation of 3000 feet in the lower Himalayas. Here is what it is called in various languages:

English: Bimli Jute, Deccan Hemp, Kenaf

Sanskrit: Nalita

Hindi: Ambari, patsan, pitwa

Bengali: Mestapat

Marathi: Ambadi, Ambada

Gujarati: Ambari, sheria

Telugu: Gogu, gonkura

Tamil: Pulichhai, pulimanji, kasini

Kannada: Pundi

Malayalam: Kanjaru

Oriya: Kanuriya

Bihari: Kudrum

Punjabi: Sankokla

It is amazing to know that the plant is used to make ropes, jute bags, fishing nets, strings for tying rafters, floor mats, rug and chair backing etc. If the plant has less fibre, then it is used to manufacture paper. The leaves on the other hand are used as a herb. Tender leaves are also used as cattle fodder and seeds as cattle feed. They have a fatty oil used to make soaps, linoleum, paints and varnishes and after refining..

Here goes the recipe that is again rich in Iron!

Ingredients:
2 cups cleaned and separated Pundi (ambadi) leaves , about 1 cup coarsely broken Sorghum (jolad nuchchu) or coarsely broken rice (akke nuchchu) or thick wheat rawa, 2 bulbs pealed garlic separated into cloves, salt, 2 spoons veg oil.

Process:

• Boil pundi leaves in 4-5 cups water till the leaves are cooked soft.
• Decant the water.
• Put the garlic cloves,  jolad nuchchu, salt, mix well and cook for about 20 minutes with intermittent stirring till the nuchchu is well cooked and there is homogeneous mass formed.
• Put the oil and mix well. 

Typically Served With:
Serve with ground  (kudsid khara) made with green chilli or red chilli (ranjaka) and oil to be eaten with jolad roti