Green Leafy Vegetables - साग-पात हरु - (Part 4)

Facts about Nepal Earthquake

A strong (7.8) earthquake hit Nepal in the area near Barpak, a mountain village between capital Kathmandu and tourist town Pokhara. The earthquake was followed by many powerful aftershocks and a very powerful one (6.7) hit Nepal on Sunday April 26.

The earthquakes caused extensive damage to buildings and thousands of deaths and injuries and was even felt in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Many (historic) buildings collapsed, temples have been ruined, roads destroyed. Nearly 8000 deaths in Nepal and tens of deaths in India & Tibet. The quake was followed by more than 430 aftershocks and another huge earthquake (6.8) on May 12.

Green Leafy Vegetables - Hariyo Saag-Paat Haru (साग-पात हरु) - (Part 4 of 4)

A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal

This is the last part of pictorial tour of Nepali leafy greens. I hope you had much fun as I had putting together the virtual tour of Nepali vegetable markets. Please drop me a few lines in the comments section of the blog in case I missed something. I would appreciate your feedback; it will help revise and make corrections.

Here I have added the following green vegetables
Baabari, Pudina - (बाबरी को साग) - Common Mint
Pooi or Poi ko Saag - (पोई को साग) - Indian Spinach, Malabar Night Shade
Neuro - (न्यूरो को साग) - Edible Fern Shoots
Index of Nepali Green Leafy Vegetables - हरियो साग पात हरु ... (next blog coming soon)


Here is step-by-step tutorial on how to make perfect bundles of greens by using dry rice straws (paral ko doree). I was pretty excited to see this creative art and wanted to share it in the blog. The street vendor first sorts out the straw and keeps it to tie the leaves.

He says, "You want to learn ....No problem, just watch me! ... First collect all the greens and arrange the root ends and stems facing in one direction. Use several straws to hold the greens and make a full twist with a loop towards one side....and he started to chat as he worked making several bundles, "the price of spinach used to be Rupees 5 per bundle, but now has gone up to Rs 25 - oh ho..for a family of four, you will probably need to purchase three bundles, the price has gone up so much...unaffordable..."kasto mahango chaa (how expensive everything is!)"

Here are the finished bundles. The presentation was so beautiful with an extra special touch.


Mixed greens bundles, usually made up equal parts spinach, garden cress, and fennel greens, sold ready to cook - no need to mix and match, so convenient for buyers.

Baabari, Pudina - बाबरी - Common Mint is known as Baabari in Nepal. It is a strongly aromatic herb, grown or partly found wild in many parts.

Common Mint - the tender leaves and springs are eaten fresh in a form of chutney, and beverage cold or hot, or used as a flavoring agent in Nepali cooking. "There are 30 species of mint, but the two most commonly available are peppermint (more pungent with bright green leaves, purple stems and peppery flavor) and spearmint (gray-green leaves and milder flavor)" - source Kitchen Dictionary

Pooi or Poi ko Saag - पोई को साग - Com. name: Indian Spinach, Malabar Night Shade - Bot. name: Basella rubra L, Family: Basellaceae - soft, succulent and smooth biennial or perennial plant. It is usually found growing wild in the shady hedges and walls under Terai condition. The greens are cooked like any green vegetables and tastes more like common spinach.

Neuro - न्यूरो को साग - (Edible Fern Shoots) - Fiddlehead ferns are the young shoots of edible ferns. They resemble the spiral end of a fiddle, for which they are named, and they taste somewhat similar to asparagus-okra-spinach, but their texture is slightly crunchy. They are extremely perishable and need to be cooked within a day or two after picking. In Nepal, they are collected in the spring time from the woods, shady swamps, riverbanks, and damp fields. They can also be purchased from the local markets. In my last visit to Kathmandu, I was so excited to see neuro for sale in the market, neatly arranged in a bundle.......continue reading my previous posting, "Fiddlehead Fern - Neuro, Niuro (नीयूरो)". Please click here.


Meet my favorite vendor again, from dawn until dusk - seven days a week - I asked him again, "so what happens to the leftover greens that are not sold?" He told me that at the end of the day they are sold off at lower prices. Sometimes vendors from a different part of the town come and get it for a throwaway prices to be resold at their evening stall. Please turn to the next blog posting - Index of Nepali Leafy Greens A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 1 of 4) A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 2 of 4) A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 3 of 4) A Visual Guide to Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal - (Part 4 of 4) Index of Green Leafy Vegetables of Nepal

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