Local food #8 – Aliv – The beauty pill

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Local food #8 – Aliv – The beauty pill

Aliv seeds or Halim or garden cress or Lepidium sativum.

Picture source - Shutterstock.

It can grow easily in small pots.

Locality – It is mostly found in Maharastra region.

Properties –

Rich source of essential fatty acids like linoleic and arachidic acid. When it mixed with coconut and ghee you get the perfect ratio of omega 3, 6, and 9. It has folic acid, iron and calcium. It has vitamin A, Vitamin E, sulforaphane and a rich source of benzyl isothiocyanate.

Benefits –

  •           Lactation enhancer 
  • Important diet for post-pregnancy
  • Prevents oxidative stresses. It means prevention from hair loss, thinning, split ends etc.  It helps retain both the density and lustre of the hair.
  •  Sulforaphane in it provides healthy skin.
  • Benzyl isothiocyanate acts as a powerful deterrent to cancer cells.
  • It helps in curing anaemia.
  • It makes our stomach healthy.

How to eat aliv?

Aliv sprouts – Sprouts can be turned in to chutney or can be added to soups. The major benefit is skin brightening.

Aliv greens – It can be used in curries like coriander leaves.

Aliv seeds – Soak these seeds overnight and use them in the form of laddoos or kheer or put it in milk.

Aliv oil – It smells like mustard oil. It can be used for external use such as for cracked lips.

The famous one is aliv ladoo.

Aliv ladoo recipe –

It is a Marathi famous dish.

Ingredients –Aliv seeds, coconut water (normal water can be used), Grated fresh coconut, Jaggery, Almonds and cashew

Method – Take alive (as per your requirement) and mix well with coconut water or normal water. Leave this mixture for two hours. After that mix well and cook on medium flame. Mix till the mixture leaves the side of the pan. During this mixture procedure, you can add any powder and dry fruits to add extra flavour. After that, cool down the mixture.  From that cooled mixture start making ladoos.

Thses information are collected from the book "Indian superfoods" written by Rujuta Diwekar.


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